By JESSE GRAHAM
THE PARENT of a child mauled in a dog attack at Ferny Creek Primary School has called for the animal to be destroyed.
Last week, The Mail reported an incident at the primary school on 16 June, where an English bulldog escaped from its home, entered the school grounds and attacked several children.
Three children and a teacher were injured in the attack, and two of the children – two boys, in Grades 4 and 2 – had to be taken to hospital.
Principal Matthew Coyle said at the time that some of the families he had spoken to expressed that they did not want the dog destroyed. However, one victim’s parent said that was not the case.
The parent, who did not want to be identified by name, said their son had spent three days in hospital as a result of the attack, and that it took a week for the boy to be able to walk unaided.
Alongside the physical harm, which required emergency surgery, came mental and emotional trauma from the incident, according to the parent.
They said he wanted the animal put down as a punishment for the mauling, but also to prevent possible future attacks.
“For the record, I have no sympathy at all for this dog; it has no place in society,” they said.
“Our son was not the only child mauled or affected during this incident, and no child or family should have to go through this again, as a result of this animal in particular.”
The parent said that his son had only just returned to the school, on a part-time basis.
The dog, which is one year old, is owned by a family at the school, and is believed to have escaped the property through an open gate.
Mr Coyle praised the teachers at the school for protecting the students, with two of the staff members helping to get the dog away from students and off the school grounds.
He said that, without intervention from the teachers, the incident could have ended very differently.
One of the intervening teachers was also attacked.
A Yarra Ranges Council Ranger seized the animal on the day, while ambulance and police all attended the incident.
