In Adelaide, Australia, a two-year-old toddler named Alaruh is recovering after the family dog mauled her face. The toddler had been home when the 77-pound South African Boerboel named Joop attacked the child on Monday afternoon.
According to the Daily Mail, Alaruh was rushed to the hospital with superficial facial injuries. The child’s father, Chris Walker, stated he had heard the dog growl before he found the dog attacking his daughter. There has been no information as to where the toddler, the dog and the father had been previous to the attack.
A neighbor found Joop walking down the street and was easily able to capture him and lock him in the garage until officers from the City of Port Adelaide EnfieldCouncil were able to seize the dog. The dog was not aggressive at that time either.
It is not known why Joop attacked the child. He is currently being held by authorities who will decide his fate.
The South African Boerboel, as described on the Dog Time website, are generally docile, easy to groom, and have few health problems, however potential owners should not make the mistake of thinking they’re an easy breed to handle for first time owners. These dogs are confident, territorial, and prone to pulling and chewing. They need a lot of exercise and an experienced owner who can help them to become great canine citizens.
There has been no update on the child’s condition, and the family asked for privacy.
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It’s a very bad idea to have an unsupervised child with an animal. We NEVER allowed our furbabies to be with unsupervised children. It only takes a second for a tragedy.
I read the Daily Mail article and according to the article the parents allowed their small child to be unsupervised with this dog.
MANY dogs hate small children because small children will pull ears, pull tails, yank on fur to pull themselves up, have high pitched screams…… It only takes a second for a tragedy to happen, even with a well trained dog…..
When we had visitors to our home with small children, our furbabies were always kept in our bedroom. We had a total idiot visitor (NEVER EVER invited back) insist on letting our dogs out and put them outside in our yard (we don’t ever do this because there are lots of predators in our area)……. We gathered up our furbabies, told her off and put our furbabies back in our bedroom AND locked it……. This idiot wanted her child to be left alone with our furbabies in our bedroom (so the adults could visit) and we refused because we had a “full house”……. We couldn’t supervise her child with our furbabies and attend to our other guests…….
I suspect these parents were not watching their child with their dog and this is exactly why this child was bitten……. NEVER EVER leave a small child alone with an animal…….. an idiot decision and both the child and the animal will suffer for the parents’ negligence……..
I hope this dog is rehomed into a child-free home…… or maybe the child should be rehomed to parents with “common sense”……..
More than likely the dog will be blamed. ;(
That’s the tragedy. If the parents had supervised their child with the dog, this biting incident could have been prevented……