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There is growing call for a zero-tolerance crackdown on dangerous dogs as one victim recalled fearing for his life during a terrifying attack.
Mubarak Ali was rushed to hospital and had emergency surgery on his arm after a vicious dog mauled him in a park in southwestern Sydney.
The vicious attack prompted a Canterbury-Bankstown councilor to lead the calls for a single-attack kill policy, where dogs would be automatically killed if they provoked an attack.
New local government data shows that nearly 5,000 dog attacks have been reported in NSW in the past 12 months, with American Staffordshire terriers listed as the breed involved in the most incidents.
Mr Ali was out running in Lakemba’s Parry Park on September 5 when a large dog jumped on it and knocked him to the ground before clutching his arm and refusing to let go.
Mubarak Ali (left) was rushed to hospital last week after being attacked by a dog during a morning run in a Lakemba park. His friend Khodr Saleh (right) calls for tougher laws
Covered in blood, he eventually fought the dog off by beating it with his other hand and begged the dog owner to call an ambulance, who fled the scene without stopping to help him.
“The dog looked at the owner, looked at me and then decided to jump on me,” Mr Ali told the… Daily Telegram.
‘I thought I was going to lose my hand’
“I’m lucky it was me running, it could have been a woman or a child.”
Ali spent 40 minutes waiting for the ambulance before being rushed to hospital.
Canterbury-Bankstown councilor Khodr Saleh has since described the dog owner’s actions as a cowardly act and The man called on the man to report to the police or the municipality.
He called for a one-attack kill policy as he shared a photo sitting next to Ali as he recovered in hospital.
“I visited my friend at Concord Hospital, who was feared for his life during a ‘cruel’ dog attack on Monday morning,” Cr Saleh wrote.
The dog’s owner ran and didn’t stop to help him.
The American Staffordshire Terrier (pictured) was listed as the breed implicated in the most reported dog attacks in NSW in the past 12 months
“The people of our local community deserve to walk through our local parks or streets without fearing the risk of a dog attack.
‘I advocate zero tolerance for dangerous dogs in our environment.’
Cr Saleh says more needs to be done because of the small number of irresponsible animal owners who fail to properly restrain and train their pets,”
“If it’s a dangerous dog, we have to kill him – one human attack, and that’s the line that will be drawn,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
It comes after a Sydney vet has called for a number of dangerous dog breeds to be banned in Australia to prevent deadly attacks on their owners or their families.
The vet, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Daily Mail Australia in September last year that he wanted an immediate ban on the sale, breeding, import or rehoming of American Staffordshire terriers.
“Usually they won’t be murderers,” he told the Daily Mail Australia at the time.
“But when you’re dealing with such a powerful breed that was bred to fight and kill when they really want to do this, there’s nothing anyone can do to fend them off.
“They shouldn’t be bred in this country.”
He added that there were “literally hundreds of puppies for sale on Gumtree for American Staffordshire Terriers.”
“These kinds of dogs are unpredictable and should be banned,” a Daily Mail Australia reader said at the time.
At least 4,489 dog attacks have occurred across NSW in the past year, according to new local government data
The Central Coast recorded the highest number of incidents with 271 incidents, but also has the highest percentage of dog ownership in the entire state.
The worst incident involved a five-week-old baby boy who was killed by the family’s American Staffordshire Terrier in Kariong in July 2021.
Other community focal points included Blacktown (235 incidents), Lake Macquarie 226, Shoalhaven (189), Northern Beaches (183) and Wollongong (149).
Nearly 5,000 dog incidents have been recorded in NSW in the past year, according to local government’s new date (stock image)
Last year, a five-week-old baby boy was mauled to death by the family’s American Staffordshire Terrier in Kariong on the NSW Central Coast. Pictured are tribute on site
Sutherland, Sydney City, Newcastle and Bayside each recorded over 100 incidents.
American Staffordshire terriers were involved in the highest number of reported incidents, with 723 attacks, nearly double the breed responsible for the second highest number.
Bull terriers were involved in 391 incidents, while German Shepherds were involved in 261 attacks.
It comes after a new report from Sydney Children’s Hospital (SCH) recently revealed that a child is admitted weekly to a NSW hospital for treatment for a dog bite.
The data took into account 628 patients who had suffered dog-related injuries from 2010 to 2020 and found that their average age was only five years old.
The breeds involved in the most reported seizures were Pitbulls (10.3%), followed by Labradors (8.5%) and Rottweilers (6.8%).
The top three were followed by Bulldog (6%), Border Collie (6%), Jack Russell (5.1%), Terrier (other) (5.1%), Kelpie (5.1%), German Shepherd ( 4.3%) and others (42.7%
In NSW, 1,027 dog bites were reported from January 1 to March 31, resulting in the slaughter of 69 animals.
New data says Bull Terriers were responsible for 391 attacks in NSW in the past year