Self-Sacrifice

Lianhe Zaobao (3 May) - A dwarf hound put up a brave fight in fending off two huge American pit bull terriers from five children. He suffered serious injuries and had to be humanely put down. The incident happened in a northern town, Manaia in New Zealand Wellington. The courageous dog, named George was playing with the children who were on their way home after buying candy. Suddenly, the bull terriers charged at the children and George, who is less than a foot tall, took them on.

One of the children, 11-year old Richard related that the bull terriers’ attack target was his four-year old brother, Daryl. George pounced forward and barked away, in an attempt to distract the bull terriers. The terriers grew aggressive and started to attack George. The children quickly got away and shouted for help along the way. Passers-by stopped and rescued George.

George’s owner, Gay said that the bull terriers bite off big chunks of flesh from George’s neck, chest and back. Nine-year old George had a medical history of heart ailment, hence the vet diagnosed that he would not be able to recover and he was humanely put down to reduce his suffering.

The owner of the bull terriers voluntarily turned them in to the local municipal authority and requested that they be put down because the sudden attack was not triggered by any provocation. The authority confirmed the dogs had been seized and according to local laws, they would be destroyed.