Dog ‘was going in for kill’
Aleka Beckett-Gillett was playing at a neighbour’s house and was heading outside to play on the trampoline when the dog attacked, leaving her with lacerations to the head and bite marks up her right arm.
Aleka, 6, had been to the house in Macdonald St, Timaru, before and been around the dog previously, but when she opened the door to go outside on Tuesday the 10-month-old rottweiler growled at her so she backed away.
‘‘I tried to tell [the owner] that the dog was growling at me but it was too late,’’ Aleka said.
‘‘It attacked me four times.’’
The owner heard Aleka’s screams and came to the girl’s aid but the dog was too strong for her, Aleka’s mum Kat Beckett said.
‘‘Aunty Emma’s girls [Aleka’s cousins] came out screaming because they witnessed it as well,’’ Beckett said.
‘‘I ran over there, I was just in a panic, she was covered in blood and I didn’t know where it was coming from but I knew it was her head.’’
Beckett said there was a delay in getting to Timaru Hospital because she was told ambulances were busy but the police arrived and drove them there where treatment was prioritised.
Aleka had rolled into a ball to protect her face with her arms but had several ‘‘splits’’ in her head where the dog had repeatedly gone for her.
‘‘It was a savage attack, he was going in for the kill not just a warning,’’ Beckett said.
‘‘If she hadn’t turned around that could have been a savage attack to the face as well.’’
She said the owner said straight away that the dog would be gone and came over to the house later to check Aleka was OK.
‘‘She did everything a dog owner should have done.
‘‘When she went to put the dog down yesterday [Wednesday], under sedation it attacked the granddaughter and her.’’
Apparently a couple of weeks ago the dog had tried to go for a couple of men who had visited the house and the owner had sought advice, Kat said.
She felt sad for her neighbour because it wasn’t her fault and she’d had to put down a member of the family.
‘‘But instead of burying a dog I could have been burying my daughter, it was pretty horrific.’’
In hospital after the attack, Aleka said it was lucky the dog hadn’t gone for the other children.
Beckett is urging dog owners to think about whether they can control their pets and to have them checked out if they show any signs of aggression or strange behaviour.
‘‘It’s cool to have big dogs but do you have the strength when they do latch on, and have the strategies to pull them off?
‘‘And then do you have the willpower to put them down and do the right thing?’’
She said she’d even thought about getting a dog before this happened but now she would be worried if Aleka was even going to be comfortable around a dog that wasn’t on a lead.
‘‘I don’t blame [the owner], I don’t hate her. I just want to put it out there to people: ‘how would you feel if this happened to your kid?’
‘‘Just because someone else trusts their dog doesn’t mean that you should, you don’t know the history of it.’’
Beckett said Aleka has been very brave through the ordeal and the family have had amazing support from the community since the attack.