Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Mother Defends Dog After Attack on Son

A little Australian boy's face was horribly scarred by the family dog - but his mother vowed to keep the pet, blaming the attack on her son.

Two-year-old Noah Newbold is lucky to have the sight in his left eye after being mauled by his family's mastiff-staffordshire cross.

Deep cuts and scratches cover the left side of his face.

But, the toddler's mother, Alicia Cottier, said she was keeping the dog despite the attack because it had been provoked by her son pulling the dog's ears.

"People are telling me I should shoot the dog, and as much as I love my son to death, I believe Noah was annoying her. I love the dog and she's part of the family," Cottier said.

Noah is nursing a range of painful injuries after being bitten on Monday night at his home at Booral in the Hunter Valley.

Police attended the scene but said there no charges would be laid because the attack had occurred at the home of the dog's owner, and apparently no firearms were used during the incident.

"Nowadays we're focusing exclusively or nearly so on gun crimes," Senior Constable Kent Ketchum told Australian News, "and at this point in time it doesn't appear that the animal attacked the lad with a handgun so there's really not all that much we can do."

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