Dogs maul man 'like a pig'
THREE dogs that severely mauled a Mareeba man 'like he was a pig' yesterday morning would have killed him if no one was around, his rescuers say.
The man, believed to be 40, remains in Cairns Base Hospital after undergoing surgery last night to treat shocking bite marks to his legs, arms and stomach.
The two staffordshire-crosses and the pitbull-cross that attacked him are expected to be destroyed as early as today.
The man was walking along Doyle St about 9.45am when the animals jumped a front yard fence and lunged at him.
Connie and Steve Miller witnessed the savage mauling from their duplex across the road.
"They just wouldn’t let go," Mrs Miller told The Cairns Post.
"They were chasing him like he was a pig."
The dogs dragged the man to the ground and bit him repeatedly. He lay curled in a ball but was helpless to fend them off.
"It was horrible to see what those dogs were doing to him," Mrs Miller said.
"If they had got him by the throat, they would’ve killed him."
Mr Miller grabbed a rake and ran out to fight off the dogs.
"As he was going towards them, the dogs must’ve let go of him (their victim) and he came running across the road," Mrs Miller said.
The Millers quickly called triple and then tore up a sheet to strap the man’s wounds.
"You should’ve seen all the blood coming out of him," she said.
"He was just bleeding like a bullock.
"If we didn’t put the sheet on him, he would’ve bled to death."
Mareeba ambulance station officer-in-charge Gavin Rablin said the man lost half a litre of blood and was beginning to suffer shock when paramedics arrived two minutes after being alerted.
The man told Mr Rablin that he feared for his life during the attack.
He praised the Millers for their quick response.
Nearby resident Shianne Kynuna said the dogs that attacked the man had jumped the fence and menaced her children in the past.
"He’s not the only victim," the mother-of-10 said.
"They attack my girls every time they go past there.
"As soon as you turn your back, they rush you.
"They’re making a lot of people in the community very frightened to walk past there."
Council by-laws give rangers the power to destroy dogs if they are declared dangerous.
"The process will be put in place to put the dogs down," Mareeba Shire Mayor Mick Borzi said.
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Rotten mongrels: A Mareeba man savaged by dogs is rushed to Cairns Base Hospital with bites to his arms, legs and stomach. Picture: VERONICA SAGREDO
Living in fear: Shianne Kynuna and her family fear the dogs that attacked a man near their Mareeba home.
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