LINKY
If you go to the link you can see a pic of the boy, the dog and the mother.
Dogs have feelings too: mauled boy's mum
By Clementine Cuneo
January 31, 2008 12:00pm
THE mother who vowed to keep the family dog which attacked her toddler says she is not a bad mum, and people should realise dogs have feelings too.
Alicia Cottier continues to blame her two-year-old son for the attack which happened after the toddler tugged on the animal's ears at their home in NSW's Hunter Valley.
"The dog was trying to protect herself, she's got feelings too, just like Noah does," Ms Cottier said.
Noah Newbold was bitten on the face by the family's 30kg mastiff-staffordshire cross, leaving puncture wounds in his cheeks and chin.
After wide reaction to the story about the attack in The Daily Telegraph yesterday, Ms Cottier pleaded with the public to believe she is not a negligent mum.
Her public plea came as she was inundated with calls from TV networks for interviews, and she was forced to call police when a crew from Seven’s Today Tonight refused to leave.
As another young boy recovered from a separate dog attack in hospital on the NSW North Coast yesterday, Ms Cottier told how her son was attacked as she text messaged on her mobile phone.
Warned
Ms Cottier said she noticed her son pulling at the dog's ears.
"I told him to stop or she'd bite him, then I kept texting . . . next thing I knew she had snapped," Ms Cottier said.
She said the five-year-old dog named Cassey was not vicious.
"It's not as bad as it looks. The dog just snapped at him and bit him," she said.
Ms Cottier said she would speak with her former partner, and he may consider taking the dog to his place. Otherwise, she said she would ensure the dog and the child were kept apart.
The incident sparked outrage and prompted hundreds of comments on The Daily Telegraph's website.
As of late yesterday, 70 per cent of the 4000 readers who voted in our online poll thought the dog should be removed.
Separate attack
Ms Cottier's defence of her decision to keep the dog came as another boy was recovering from a dog attack which left him in need of emergency surgery.
Rodney Beveridge, from Urbenville on the North Coast is still in shock after the dog ripped his arm open in a savage attack on Australia Day.
He had been playing at a friend's house when he went to go inside but was met at the door by a mastiff-rottweiler cross.
The dog rushed Rodney, biting his upper right arm, sinking its teeth to the bone and shaking him from side to side.
The dog will be put down.
If you go to the link you can see a pic of the boy, the dog and the mother.
Dogs have feelings too: mauled boy's mum
By Clementine Cuneo
January 31, 2008 12:00pm
THE mother who vowed to keep the family dog which attacked her toddler says she is not a bad mum, and people should realise dogs have feelings too.
Alicia Cottier continues to blame her two-year-old son for the attack which happened after the toddler tugged on the animal's ears at their home in NSW's Hunter Valley.
"The dog was trying to protect herself, she's got feelings too, just like Noah does," Ms Cottier said.
Noah Newbold was bitten on the face by the family's 30kg mastiff-staffordshire cross, leaving puncture wounds in his cheeks and chin.
After wide reaction to the story about the attack in The Daily Telegraph yesterday, Ms Cottier pleaded with the public to believe she is not a negligent mum.
Her public plea came as she was inundated with calls from TV networks for interviews, and she was forced to call police when a crew from Seven’s Today Tonight refused to leave.
As another young boy recovered from a separate dog attack in hospital on the NSW North Coast yesterday, Ms Cottier told how her son was attacked as she text messaged on her mobile phone.
Warned
Ms Cottier said she noticed her son pulling at the dog's ears.
"I told him to stop or she'd bite him, then I kept texting . . . next thing I knew she had snapped," Ms Cottier said.
She said the five-year-old dog named Cassey was not vicious.
"It's not as bad as it looks. The dog just snapped at him and bit him," she said.
Ms Cottier said she would speak with her former partner, and he may consider taking the dog to his place. Otherwise, she said she would ensure the dog and the child were kept apart.
The incident sparked outrage and prompted hundreds of comments on The Daily Telegraph's website.
As of late yesterday, 70 per cent of the 4000 readers who voted in our online poll thought the dog should be removed.
Separate attack
Ms Cottier's defence of her decision to keep the dog came as another boy was recovering from a dog attack which left him in need of emergency surgery.
Rodney Beveridge, from Urbenville on the North Coast is still in shock after the dog ripped his arm open in a savage attack on Australia Day.
He had been playing at a friend's house when he went to go inside but was met at the door by a mastiff-rottweiler cross.
The dog rushed Rodney, biting his upper right arm, sinking its teeth to the bone and shaking him from side to side.
The dog will be put down.