Dog mauls boy, 11, in Tieri street | Emerald News | Local News in Emerald

A TIERI schoolboy's face was slashed and bitten in an unprovoked weekend dog attack.

The 11-year-old was walking alone down Pisces Street on Sunday afternoon when he bent over to tie a loose shoelace and was savaged by the medium-sized black and white dog.

The boy was taken to Emerald Hospital where he received stitches for a bite wound to his eyebrow and facial cuts.

In Emerald, ambulance officers confirmed a 10-year-old Crystal Court boy was treated for a puncture wound to his elbow after he tried to defend his pet dog from attack by a neighbour's animal.

“I didn't think we had a dog problem in Tieri, but after talking to the ambulance driver, my son was actually the third case here and there was another incident on Saturday,” said the mother of the 11-year-old, who requested anonymity.

“At the hospital, the doctors let me know there have been a lot of attacks in Emerald and my son was very lucky it was just above his eye, and not in his eye.

“I've lived in Tieri for 15 years and never come across anything like this before.

“Basically, it could have been anybody walking past that dog, and if the child was smaller the injuries may have been greater, and even though my son sustained serious injuries, they could have been worse.

“He didn't even realise the dog was there until it bit him… and as he stood up, it ran away.

“Luckily, there was a lady in her front yard and she called the ambulance and then called me straight away, and I'd like to thank her and her husband for their care.”

The mother said her son was unsettled and withdrawn after the incident, which is being investigated by compliance officers from the Central Highlands Regional Council, along with the Crystal Court attack.

She said council was prompt in responding to the situation.

Central Queensland News believes there were further dog-related incidents on Emerald's northside on the weekend in the streets around Crystal Court.

“These attacks on children are pretty concerning,” said CHRC Mayor Peter Maguire.

“Clearly some of these dogs should not be in homes anyway and when you hear stories about them roaming the streets in packs and taking a cat or another dog, you worry about what's going to happen when there's a human involved.

“Any of these dogs that attack people might be family pets, or nice dogs, but they're going to have to give them up.”

Cr Maguire said animal compliance officers had intensified their presence on Emerald roads in the early morning hours in response to recent attacks.

He maintained there was sufficient staff to deal with the problem.

“People need to be responsible for their own animals and they should abide by the law, as we do with the Animal Management (Cats and Dogs) Act,” said Cr Maguire.

“I'm talking to people in council and we believe we have the ability to bring in the people from others areas like Blackwater and Springsure and that's what we have done.

“Certainly we've concentrated our efforts in Emerald initially because that's where all the problems have been, but we will be looking at all CHRC communities.”