Calls for a crackdown on dangerous dogs in Australia
There are growing calls for a zero-tolerance crackdown on dangerous dogs as a victim recalled how he feared for his life during a terrifying attack.
Mubarak Ali was rushed to hospital and required emergency surgery to his arm after a vicious dog mauled him at a park in Sydney‘s southwest.
The savage attack prompted a Canterbury-Bankstown councillor to lead calls for a one-attack kill policy which would see dogs automatically put down if they instigate an attack.
New local government data has revealed almost 5,000 dog attacks were reported across NSW in the last 12 months, with American Staffordshire terriers listed as the breed involved in the most incidents.
Mr Ali was on his morning run in Lakemba’s Parry Park on September 5 when a large dog jumped on and knocked him onto to ground before clamping on his arm and refusing to let go.
Mubarak Ali (left) was rushed to hospital last week after he was attacked by a dog on in morning run in a Lakemba Park. His friend Khodr Saleh (right) is calling for tougher laws
Covered in blood, he eventually fought off the dog by hitting it with his other hand and pleaded with the dog owner to call an ambulance, who fled the scene without stopping to help him.
‘The dog looked at the owner, looked at me, then decided to jump on me,’ Mr Ali told the Daily Telegraph.
‘I thought I was going to lose my hand,’
‘I’m lucky it was me running, it could have been a woman or a child.’
Mr Ali spent 40 minutes waiting for ambulance before he was rushed to hospital.
Canterbury-Bankstown councillor Khodr Saleh has since described the dog owner’s actions as a coward act and called for the man to hand himself in to police or council.
He called for a one-attack kill policy while sharing a photo sitting next to Mr Ali as he recovered in hospital.
‘I visited my friend in Concord Hospital who was feared for his life during a ‘vicious’ dog attack on Monday morning,’ Cr Saleh posted.
‘The owner of the dog fled and did not stop to help him.
The American Staffordshire terrier (pictured) was listed as the breed involved in the most reported dog attacks in NSW in the last 12 months
‘The people of our local community deserve to walk through our local parks or street without fearing the risk of a dog attack.
‘I call for a zero tolerance towards dangerous dogs in our local area.’
Cr Saleh says more needs to be done to due to small number of irresponsible animal owners who fail to properly restrain and train their pets,”
‘If it is a dangerous dog, we need to put it down — one human attack, and that’s the line drawn,’ he told the Daily Telegraph.
It comes after a Sydney vet called for some dangerous dog breeds to be banned in Australia to prevent fatal attacks on their owners or their families.
The vet, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Daily Mail Australia in September last year he wanted an immediate ban on selling, breeding, importing or rehoming American Staffordshire terriers.
‘Most of the time they won’t be killers,’ he told Daily Mail Australia at the time.
‘But when you’re dealing with such a powerful breed that’s been bred to fight and kill, when they really want to do this, nobody can do anything to fend them off.
‘They should not be allowed to be bred in this country.’
He added there were ‘literally hundreds of puppies for sale on Gumtree for American Staffordshire Terriers’.
‘These type of dogs are unpredictable and should be banned,’ one Daily Mail Australia reader said at the time.’
At least 4489 dog attacks occurred across NSW in the last year, according new local government data
The Central Coast recorded the highest number of incidents with 271 incidents but also has the highest dog ownership rate statewide.
The worst incident involved a five-week-old baby boy who was mauled to death by the family’s American staffordshire terrier in Kariong in July 2021.
Other council areas of concern included Blacktown (235 incidents), Lake Macquarie 226, Shoalhaven, (189), Northern Beaches (183) and Wollongong (149).
Almost 5,000 dog incidents were recorded across NSW in the last year, according to new local government date (stock image)
A five-week-old baby boy mauled to death by the family’s American staffordshire terrier in Kariong on the NSW Central Coast last year. Pictured are tributes at the scene
Sutherland, Sydney City, Newcastle and Bayside each all recorded more than 100 incidents.
American Staffordshire terriers were involved in the highest number of reported incidents, with 723 attacks, almost double than the breed responsible for the second highest number.
Bull terriers were involved 391 incidents while German Shepherds were involved in 261 attacks.
It comes after a new report by the Sydney Children’s Hospital (SCH) recently revealed a child is being admitted to a NSW hospital every week for treatment for a dog bite.
The data took account of 628 patients who presented with dog-related injuries from 2010 to 2020 and found their average age was just five-years-old.
The breeds involved in the most reported attacks were Pitbulls (10.3%), followed by Labradors (8.5%) and Rottweilers (6.8%).
The top three were followed by Bulldog (6%), Border Collie (6%), Jack Russell (5.1%), Terrier (other) (5.1%), Kelpie (5.1%), German shepherd (4.3%) and others (42.7%).
In NSW, from January 1 to March 31 there were 1,027 reported dog bites and which resulted in 69 animals being put down.
Bull terriers were responsible for 391attacks in NSW in the last year, according to new data