Mother issues a desperate warning about a notorious dog breed after her little girl was mauled during a day the beach
The mother of a little girl who was brutally mauled by a Rottweiler in an unprovoked attack has warned parents that the dangerous breed ‘cannot be trusted’.
Four-year-old Lucia was rushed to hospital after the ferocious dog latched onto her neck on a Quindalup beach in Western Australia on January 7.
According to her mother Natalie, she was swimming with her three older siblings in knee-deep water when the dog suddenly approached her.
Lucia suffered serious injuries, with one of the dog’s teeth missing millimeters from a crucial artery.
Natalie did not provide details about where the dog came from or whether it was the family pet, but explained that the animal was initially calm as it approached and that the attack came “out of nowhere.”
She rushed to her youngest child’s aid, but was unable to get the dog off Lucia until another beachgoer intervened.
Four-year-old Lucia was brutally attacked by a Rottweiler on a beach in Quindalup on January 7
Lucia was playing with her siblings in knee-deep water when the Rottweiler attacked her
‘He was very big, very strong. There was no way we could control what was happening… your instinct as a mother is to get your child out of that situation, but we couldn’t,’ Natalie told 7News.
“He didn’t stop, he just kept biting her.”
She said Lucia was a bloodied mess by the time the bystander rushed over to strangle the dog with his own collar and kick him in the stomach.
“She wasn’t really moving much,” Natalie said.
The distressed mother ordered her eldest daughter to call an ambulance and asked her son to seek help from other adults.
Fortunately, the bystander’s wife was a paramedic who took charge of the situation and instructed Natalie on how to treat the wounds.
They managed to control the bleeding before driving to the Busselton Health Campus Emergency Department.
Lucia was then airlifted to Perth Children’s Hospital where she underwent several operations. She is now recover at home.
Natalie now wants all other parents to understand the dangers Rottweilers pose to children, adding that the attack happened on a beach where dogs are allowed off-leash.
Lucia is now recovering at home with her mother Natalie, who is warning other parents about the dangers of Rottweilers
‘[Large dogs] tend to cause enormous amounts of injury or damage,” she told the ABC.
‘They are often unpredictable and when they attack, it usually happens without provocation. I don’t think any responsible parent is willing to take that risk.
‘People need to be armed with the knowledge of ‘this is what these dogs look like and they can’t be trusted’.’
The City of Busselton confirmed the dog was later euthanized and has launched an investigation.