Dog attack leaves family traumatised
"Residents from the surrounding houses tried to get the dog away from my animals but they were unsuccessful. Both my bulldogs died from the shock."
The owner of the dog that killed a passing resident’s two dogs, has improved the locking system on her gate.
This comes after Mrs Joy Oliphants’ pit-bull attacked and killed Mrs Lyn Santowski’s two bulldogs last month.
Mrs Lyn Santowski said her children were walking her dogs from Rhodes Park and passed a house along Osprey in Kensington when a dog managed to escape from a property on the same road and attacked them.
“My children were passing by with our two bulldogs and a dachshund. The pit-bull got out and attacked my dogs. Residents from the surrounding houses tried to get the dog away from my animals but they were unsuccessful. Both my bulldogs died from the shock,” she said.
Mrs Santowski’s daughter managed to pick up the dachshund and it was not attacked.
“I am grateful the dog did not attack my daughter. I am scared for the pedestrians and other dog owners who walk their animals passing by the same house. My family and I have been left traumatised by this tragedy,” she said.
She called for the owner to take action to protect other people and animals that pass by her house.
“I would not want problems for her. She and her husband apologised for this but they need to make sure we are protected from this dog,” said Mrs Santowski.
Mrs Oliphants said this was the first incident in more than 20 years.
“We’ve had pit-bulls, sometimes six at a time, for the past 20 years in our home. We have never had such incidents. Our dogs have never attacked any person or other dogs before. This left us all traumatised too,” she said.
Her two children, between the ages of five and six, were playing at the gate just before the incident.
“I was on the phone when they were at the gate. I shouted at them to close it but before I went to check if they had closed it properly, the incident happened,” she said.
Mrs Oliphants said they have rebuilt the wall next to the gate.
“We have changed the whole gate system. The locking system is now in such a way that children and animals cannot open it,” she said.
Mrs Oliphants denied reports that she has many pit-bulls on her property.
“As I said, we used to have many pit-bulls at a time, but at present we have one pit-bull. We are animals lovers. We do not breed them. We just love them,” said Mrs Oliphants.
