Child Savaged By Dog Pack

Taupo Times, Volume XIV, Issue 37, 13 May 1965, Page 1

Child Savaged By Dog Pack

A pack of five unregistered dogs "half scalped" a small boy in a street at Atiamuri on Sunday, reported the hydatid control officer, Mr S. Wallace to a meeting of the Taupo " County Council, on Tuesday. He said the boy approached the dogs while walking along the street with his own dog. He lifted up his own pet to proHect it from Ihe pack, then the other dogs attacked. The lad concerned was Denis Beasley, of Auckland, aged 11 years, who was staying with Mr and Mr/* II. Stevens, Moerangi Street, Atiamuri. He was taken to Rotorua Hospital with scalp injuries and a broken arm. His condition was reported as serious. A youth, Albert Osborn, Moerangi Street found the boy lying in long grass in a playing area, adjacent to his street.

After investigating the dogs' actions he found they had prevented the boy from rising from the ground. Mr Wallace said that following the incident the owner destroyed the five dogs. Cr P. Mann suggested that the person concerned should be prosecuted for non-regist-ration of the animals, but Mr Wallace explained that the record of registration of dogs at Atiamuri was satisfactory and prosecution seemed unnecessary. He said it was usual for dogs to be registered at the same time as dosing was done in the area and that 68 of the approximate number of 70 dogs in the village had received this treatment. Cr U. R. MacDonald said people should be told that if their dogs were not registered within 14 days of the last day of registration, they would be prosecuted. Mr Wallace's report was adopted by the meeting.