A Karragullen family was devastated and has been left without answers after a dog attacked and killed their beloved Yoki, a Jack Russell cross, earlier this year.
Helen Gissing was walking with her friend, Clancy Arnott, in bushland along Springdale Road on January 2 about 6pm.
Ms Arnott said they had Yoki, the seven-year-old dog, on a lead and looked up and saw a big dog walking off the lead with a couple of people about 100 metres away.
“We thought the owners would leash their dog and keep walking but they didn’t,” she said.
“He started looking towards us and I yelled out ‘is your dog friendly?’ and next minute the dog is just bolting towards us.”
Ms Arnott said the dog skidded around them and straight into Yoki before latching on.
“I think it took the other owners a little while to catch up with what had happened,” she said.
“Helen started screaming ‘get your dog off my dog’ and I started kicking their dog and then they seemed to appear.
“The owner started pulling his dog by the mouth… Helen was hitting it with a stick, I was kicking it in the guts and it would not move.”
Being roughly one kilometre from home Mrs Gissing started frantically calling her husband while Ms Arnott held Yoki as she gasped for air due to the huge laceration in her throat, later dying in her arms.
After the incident the pair brought Yoki home where she was buried in the front yard complete with a blood-stained jacket from the attack.
Ms Arnott said they then headed back to the track to get the details from the owners.
“They stopped straight away to talk to us so they know where Helen lives,” she said.
“However, they haven’t been back since, they haven’t sent an apology, a card or anything… they have made zero contact.”
The family reported the incident to the City of Armadale rangers team but Mrs Gissing said the lack of communication since the incident was disappointing.
She said she would like to see the offending dog labelled as dangerous and for the owner to be fined for their lack of responsibility in regards to the lack of registration, no microchip and not wearing a leash.
“I think an apology from the dog owner is probably beyond it now and it wouldn’t be genuine,” she said.
“If my dog did that I would be mortified… I would be at their house the next day with a card and some flowers asking what I could do to help.”
The City of Armadale was contacted for comment but did not respond before deadline.
