source : the age
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At just five weeks old, a baby boy was pulled from his mother’s arms as she slept and was fatally mauled by the family’s pet American Staffordshire terrier.
He is one of hundreds of children to be attacked by a dog in NSW each year.
The rate of dog attacks is on the rise. Around the country, hospitalisations from dog injuries more than doubled in the eight years to 2021, data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows, from 17 hospitalisations per 100,000 population to 37.
More people are attacked by dogs than drown. In 2021-22, there were 9542 hospitalisations from dog -related injuries.
In NSW, council data collated by the Office of Local Government for the September quarter last year shows dogs attacked 854 people. Of those, 115 were children; one in 12 victims required hospitalisation.
In the five years to that quarter, more than 2000 children were attacked by dogs. Dog attacks are defined by the council as any incident where a dog rushes at, attacks, bites, harasses or chases someone.
The most common breeds involved in those attacks were American Staffordshire terriers, bull terriers, German shepherds, Australian cattle dogs and rottweilers.
The inquest into the death of the five-week-old baby, who was killed in mid-July 2021 on the Central Coast and cannot be identified for legal reasons, is one of seven inquests into fatal dog attacks ranging from 2009 to 2023 in NSW presided over by deputy state coroner Carmel Forbes.
A Staffordshire bull terrier, not the dog involved in the fatal attack.
The baby’s father bought the dog involved for $500 as a puppy from an ad on Gumtree in 2015. It was microchipped and registered as an American Staffordshire terrier.
A month before the baby’s death, the six-year-old terrier killed the neighbour’s cocker spaniel, the inquest heard. The dog was not seized as it was unclear whether the cocker spaniel had “trespassed” and entered the family’s yard, limiting enforcement action the council can take.
The baby’s father was required to prove the dog was not a pit bull terrier, a restricted breed in NSW. He was granted a two-week extension to comply after he contacted the council and advised them his wife had recently given birth, which gave him until late July.
Two months before the baby’s death, the Central Coast Council wrote to the NSW premier requesting the list of dangerous dog breeds to include American Staffordshire terriers, which accounted for 25 per cent of dogs registered with the council. The Central Coast local government area has the highest population of dogs in the state, and the highest number of dog attacks, the inquest heard.
Concluding the inquest on Friday, Forbes said the number of dog attacks in the state was concerning, with infants and toddlers particularly at risk.
“I’ve become satisfied that not only have there been a concerning number of dog attacks on people in NSW over the past 15 years, but most of the attacks have been on children in their homes,” she said.
“Infants or children are at greater risk because of their size and vulnerability and potentially because of their behaviour around dogs.”
A 10-year analysis of paediatric admissions from dog bite injuries at Sydney Children’s Hospital from 2010 found that there were 628 child patients during the study period, over half of whom required hospital admission. The average age was 5.69 years, and the most common injuries were injuries to the face, neck and head. A family dog had caused nearly half of all hospital presentations.
Forbes recommended the government consider requiring pet owners to hold a licence, with conditional licences for those seeking to own restricted breeds and safety training for dog owners.
She also suggested the government consider harsher penalties for people who didn’t comply with microchipping and registration requirements, adding that the number of dog attacks was likely much higher than reported.
Forbes also recommended a public awareness campaign around dog safety, and that the council have stronger powers to seize a dog or require the dog to be muzzled or placed on a lead.
“The regulatory regime as it stands is not effective at minimising the risk of serious fatal dog attacks,” she said.
The Office of Local Government will conduct a review of the Companion Animals Act later this year.
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