Four dogs were involved in an attack on Tuesday night in Carlton Victoria. The incident was caught on mobile cameras by bystanders.
Victoria Police spokeswoman Melissa Seach said two men, a 26-year-old North Melbourne man and a 22-year-old Carlton man, allegedly were in control of the dogs, when they mauled a man in Drummond Street.
The victim, aged in his 50s, is recovering at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition, having suffered injuries to his arms, back and legs.
Reports seem to indicate that a security guard became involved, then the two men were able to regain control of the dogs.
Police arrested the two men over the incident. Both were released without charge pending further inquiries.
The dogs have not been found.
Outlet 3AW reported the dogs to be ‘pit bulls’, instigating a large debate about the breed and whether it should be banned (derp – they already are in the state of Victoria).
Meanwhile, other news source actually did a little digging on the attack (and I’ve yet to see a clarification issued by the 3AW station, suggesting they really do prefer a good story to the truth)
Turns out one of the three men was known to police, and was wanted over charges related to a burglary in Carlton.
So now we have three men, walking at 9.30pm at night, with four large breed dogs either on or off-leash and which they may, or may not have owned (given they’ve now vanished to an unknown location). And a known history of actively illegal and antisocial behaviour.
Still sound like a breed issue? Or is it more likely a larger societal problem playing out in public (drugs, debt or other crimes), which just happens in this instance to have dogs involved?
The fact this attack happened in Victoria – where they have some of the most regressive and draconian legislation surrounding dogs – only further confirms that by being so focused on what type of dog is involved, we are completely missing the causal factors that could potentially lead up to an attack.
There are dozens breeds that are large, strong, and capable of causing harm if they are poorly handled or raised – or even actively trained to act in a dangerous manner – that street thugs are going to be attracted to whether they’re legal or not. Seizing hundreds to thousands of healthy, friendly pets while enforcing breed specific laws does little to make the community safer from anti-social dog owners. Victoria continues to be an example of dog policy failing, by focusing on the look of the dog instead of on responsible pet ownership issues and the behavior of the individual dogs.
I’m sure we’ll hear more about the story in the coming days. I’ll update this thread if more information becomes available.
Very very sad to see this happen to this man. But we have to think these dogs did not attack for no reason. The men who were in control of these dogs had more to do with it then they are letting on I would say. Because the dogs can not be found the Police should say to them if they do not hand the dogs in they will be charged and Jailed for owning and training their dogs to be aggressive. BSL does not work it is proven time and time again. It is not the dog of any breed that is the danger it is the human that either trains them the right way or wrong way. The Governments need to open their eyes and see things will change if they make owners more countable for their dogs no matter what breed. I have 9 dogs 4 chihuahuas, 1 jack russel, 2 bull breeds, 1 great dane x neo mastiff, and 1 mastiff x boxer all play together, eat together all desexed, get walked for and hour or more everyday and love people. I love my dogs like family and I would never want to see my dogs harm anyone just like I would not want to see any of my children harm anyone so I teach them to the right way to say please and thank you good old fashion respect the same goes for dogs. Please join our page on facebook called Help Save the Pitbulls in Australia everyone is welcome with any breed to share their stories and photos BSL affects innocent dogs and puppies that have done nothing at all just on looks alone I am sure you don’t like been judged just because the way you look. Make owners more accountable and hard punishment for them and you will see things change. And mums and dads please teach you children like we were taught how to respect any animal don’t make your children fightened and scream everytime they see an animal.
The have BSL in victoria.. Why then wasnt the dogs on leashes and muzzled ??? Theyre suppose to be IF they were Pitbulls… Another owner fail !!!!
Thank you so much for preparing and sharing this information! Is ther eno way we can get this to relevant groups or challenge 3AW? They Are causing so much more trouble with their poor reporting
No surprise here. Arn’t the dogs that end up in media usually “pit bulls”? Saw an article the other day saying offending dogs were “pit bulls” then in another article “mastiff type”. Fact is responsible owners with great dogs never make the media even though they are by far the majority of owners of what could be deemed “pit bull type” dogs.
We did a protest/rally a couple of years ago against BSL and about 700 attended the day’s events. They were doctors, lawyers, nurses, business people, teachers, artists etc. Though lots of press releases were sent to media tp come out and meet responsible owners, media’s turnout was at best dismal. However let an attack occur with one or more yahoo’s involved and it gets ALLOT of press thus re-enforcing the stereotyping of bad owners regarding certain types of dogs. SAD.
My deepest condolences to the poor man who was hurt and possibly to the thousands of wonderful dogs and families that will now be hurt due to possible BSL. Let’s hope the policitans do not bend to the media hype and hold the “yahoo’s” responsible and not every good pet parent out there because of the “look” of a family pet.