A young boy has been rushed to hospital after he was mauled by the family dog on Sunday evening in their Lake Macquarie home in New South Wales.
According to 9News, the five-year-old was bitten on the left side of his neck by the dog at around 4:30 pm and was treated at the scene by two ambulance crews before being flown to the Children’s Hospital at Westmead to undergo surgery.
A NSW Ambulance spokesman said the injuries could be life-changing.
NSW Police say the two-year-old dog – described as a Rottweiler-type breed – will be euthanised as a result of the attack and an investigation into the attack has been launched in conjunction with Lake Macquarie Council.
It comes just one month after a mother in New Zealand tragically lost her newborn baby after he was attacked by the family’s Rottweiler.
The baby, who had been born the night before, suffered the critical injuries in the incident about 7 pm on a Sunday, and despite being rushed to Waikato Hospital by St John Ambulance, police confirmed to Stuff that he had died overnight.
Speaking of the horrific event to Stuff, a neighbour named Karen described seeing the mother sitting on the grass verge next to the road, holding her injured newborn baby.
“I sat beside the mother and put my arm around her,” Karen said. “The baby boy was crying really hard. He was just so little.”
She said that the baby boy was ‘all dirty and had bits of blood on him’, adding that she believed that the dog had tried to bury the young child.
“All she did was pop to the toilet and it happened just like that,” Karen said. “The whole thing is horrible, every time I close my eyes I just see him.”
The mother had reportedly only got the new dog recently, after her other Rottweiler had died.
