A pit bull dog that had to be lethally injected after refusing to let go of a man’s hand is believed to have been on a killing rampage, mauling four pets and biting a 10-year-old girl in Melbourne’s north.
The American pit bull latched on to the man’s hand for more than 20 minutes before paramedics were forced to inject it with an overdose of drugs last night.
The pit bull had savaged the man’s two small pet dogs, killing one, as he walked them along Arundel Avenue in Reservoir about 7.20pm.
Reservoir resident Janette said she believed the same pit bull had earlier killed her cat and attacked her pet dog, which was being walked by her 10-year-old daughter.
Janette said the dog had bitten her daughter on the finger and left her dog, which remains at a veterinary practice, badly wounded.
She told Radio 3AW, her daughter was out walking the family dog when the pit bull savaged her cat in her front yard before dragging it down the street about 5.30pm.
‘‘I (was) frantic to know where my daughter is, then my daughter’s come back with a neighbour around the corner and said she’d been attacked fighting this dog,’’ she said.
Janette said her daughter’s finger had been bitten but she was all right.
‘‘It could have been worse ... it was out to kill... I tried to attack it in the driveway and I had no hope, it was horrendous’’ she said.
About two hours later, paramedics were forced to kill the pit bull with a dose of drugs designed to put severely injured patients into an induced coma when the animal refused to let go of a 30-year-old local man.
A Victoria Ambulance spokesman said the killing had been an "absolute last resort" at the request of police who could not shoot the dog because it was too close to the man.
The man had tried to help his two ‘‘small fluffy dogs’’ when the pit bull locked on to his hand and held its grip, a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.
The man was taken to the Northern Hospital for treatment.
The pit bull had been off his leash and roaming the suburb’s streets at the time of the attack.
Police last night spoke to the pit bull’s distressed owner, a 25-year-old Reservoir man, and investigations are continuing.
Pure-bred American pit bull terriers are a restricted breed in Victoria and must be desexed in a bid to eventually wipe out the breed.
The attack has renewed calls from the RSPCA for the breed to be banned in Australia.
The Victorian RSPCA’s president, Dr Hugh Wirth, says the dogs are a menace and are not suitable as pets for anyone.
"They are time bombs waiting for the right circumstances,’’ Dr Wirth said.
‘‘The American pit bull terrier is lethal because it was a breed that was developed purely for dog fighting, in other words killing the opposition.
"They should never have been allowed into the country. They are an absolute menace.
‘‘What that dog did to that gentleman is no surprise.
‘‘There is no reason at all for the dog in the country.
‘‘They are not suitable pets for anybody.’’
Dr Wirth said local councils were not doing enough to enforce strict laws on pit bull terriers.
Restrictions for owners include confining the dogs to their property, ensuring the property is escape-proof, while a signpost warning of the dog’s existence must be displayed outside the property.
Dr Wirth said unless the law to desex the dogs was properly enforced there would be more attacks.
‘‘Local government has got to spend some money going around identifying these dogs and forcing the issue," he said.
The latest attack comes after a toddler was scarred for life when she was attacked by a pit bull in Melbourne’s west earlier this year.
with AAP