Bull terrier attacks pregnant woman
Serene Mallowes said she acted ‘‘on pure instinct’’ to protect her unborn baby from an attacking staffordshire bull terrier.
The west Auckland mother was out for a walk on March 10 when a fellow walker’s dog slipped its lead and charged her. Mallowes is 20 weeks pregnant. ‘‘It all just happened so fast. ‘‘I have never had a bad experience with a dog before, so it just really shocked me,’’ she said.
The 28-year-old left her Green Bay property about noon to drop some DVDS at the local shops.
It was a journey she usually made with her 2-year-old son, Braxton.
‘‘As I came around the grass verge a lady was coming towards me with her dog, I thought nothing of her,’’ she said.
‘‘Before I could react [the dog] just slipped off the lead and charged me. It started jumping and I was desperately trying to push it off my stomach, that was the only thing going through my head. ‘‘Then it went for my legs. ‘‘As soon as it saw me, it just went for me. No barking, no nothing. It just attacked.’’
By the time the owner got her dog under control, Mallowes was standing in a pool of her own blood ‘‘in complete shock’’.
‘‘The lady yelled: I got him just go. I knew I should have got her information but I was so scared I just wanted to get out of there.
‘‘It sucks that it was staffy because they get such a bad rap.’’
Mallowes limped home before heading to a medical centre in Henderson, where an Auckland Council animal management officer took down her statement.
Medical staff cleaned out her wounds but were unable to administer preventative injections due to her pregnancy.
A week on from the attack Mallowes said she just wanted to protect the rest of her community from similar incidents.
‘‘I don’t want the dog put down or anything like that but it needs to be muzzled,’’ she said.
‘‘We have an old folks home and a primary school just up the road, so it is a real safety concern.’’
Mallowes said a postie had been working across the road and witnessed the attack. New Zealand Post declined to comment.
The Central West team leader for animal management, Troy Allison, said the incident was being looked into.
‘‘A dog attack in Green Bay involving a black staffy was reported to animal management on March 10.
‘‘We are currently investigating this incident,’’ he said.
This year there have been 43 dog attacks on people reported to the animal management team in west Auckland.
Being 20 weeks pregnant and running around the house after a 2-year-old has not made recovery easy for Mallowes but she said it could have been a lot worse. ‘‘Recovery has been painful,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s like a constant cramp in my lower leg but I am getting there.’’