Boy attacked by dog on loose

A five-year-old Tokoroa boy was attacked by a dog on his front lawn when he was on his way to visit his grandmother.

The unprovoked attack occurred around 4.50pm on Thursday afternoon when Noah Teaukura was walking across his front lawn.

Hearing something behind him, Noah turned to see a dog lunge at his face.

He was taken to Tokoroa Hospital with a puncture wound to his left cheek.

Grandmother Tania Teaukura said it could have been worse, since the dog released her grandson when people walked past.

‘‘You can see the teeth marks, like I said he’s lucky. It could have got his eye. Any bite from a dog is terrible.

‘‘You hear of cases where they just rip the kids to shreds. We’re just fortunate.’’

The attack happened so fast Noah can’t describe the breed but thinks the dog may have been black and white.

No one knew anything had happened until the grandmother saw Noah running to the backyard.

When she went to look for him, he was shivering and hiding in the corner of the yard.

‘‘He’s not a screamer. I think he got a fright and his natural instinct was to hide.’’

The incident hasn’t put him off dogs, but his family is worried a dangerous dog still roams their neighbourhood.

A report was made to Police and Animal Control is investigating the incident.

‘‘We are definitely worried it will happen again.

‘‘If he [Noah] wants to go out, he’s going to have an adult walk him over.

‘‘What are we to do? They’re kids and they want to go out and play and with something like this we can’t give them freedom to go out and play.’’

Neighbour Elizabeth Gordon said a lot of children play in the cul de sac and something needs to be done to prevent this from happening again.

She said this is the first time there’s been a problem with an aggressive dog.

‘‘We’ve got to find him and get if off the street.’’