The ACT government received repeated complaints about two pit bulls for more than five years before they savagely mauled a six-year-old boy, a court has heard.
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Jack Hartigan told the ACT Supreme Court on Monday that the two dogs had used him in a game of "tug of war", leaving him with horrific injuries.
The ACT Government is being sued for its alleged failure to ensure the public housing property was safe for those accessing it.
The tenancy agreement stated that pets "must not be kept without written permission", but the resident never sought or was granted permission for the American pit bull terriers.
It is alleged that the government had clear knowledge that the two dogs were being kept at the property.
Barrister John Purnell, SC, representing Jack Hartigan, told the court there had been numerous complaints about the dogs before the attack in late 2010.
He said the animals had previously been removed by Domestic Animal Services, which had indicated they might be returned, if they were de-sexed and kept in a large cage.
Jack gave evidence from the witness box on Monday about his ordeal.
He remembered going to the Griffith home for his first play date, and hearing barking.
The tenant, he said, was to put the dogs in the backyard.
He told the court he stayed with the adults to keep safe, but that another person opened a door to go to the toilet and the dogs ran out from the kitchen.
"Then the dogs came storming out," he said.
"One of them ran past me ... and the other one grabbed my leg."
"And then the other dog got my head and it was basically a game of tug of war between the two dogs."
His injuries were described to the court in harrowing detail.
The skin from his head was ripped off, exposing his skull, and his face was torn open.
Teeth were knocked out and eaten, and his eye damaged.
"My head was ripped open and they took skin graft from my leg in hospital to put on my head," he said.
Jack has since undergone 17 major operations, with more expected, and has been traumatised psychologically.
His mother, Joanna Mangan, spoke of the shock of rushing to hospital to see her son.
"I could see his father tearing up and not being able to look at his son because his nose had also been ripped off," she said.
"He couldn't look at Jack, because he was in so much pain, he was just overwhelmed by what had happened."
Mrs Mangan said her son had been brave, and didn't have a chip on his shoulder.
But she said he had been through "absolute hell" since the attack, and was lucky not to have suffered brain damage.
"Every part of his body, it's like he was eaten up and there was just two little eyes looking out at me," she said.
The hearing continues before the ACT Supreme Court and Justice Hilary Penfold on Wednesday.
