By Brendan Rees
When Ashley Harraghy began playing with a couple of her neighbours dogs the last thing she expected was to be fighting for life minutes later.
The 20 year-old of Cranbourne North was mauled by the dogs in her backyard, which tore apart her skin and clothes.
She said the dogs, which she believed to be a blue heeler and staffy-ridgeback cross, appeared friendly at first. “I patted them and then I saw the owner looking for them at the back of our property.”
Ms Harraghy said as she stood about six metres from the owner, the dogs jumped on her and began their savage attack on Sunday 17 June, about 2.15pm.
“He (the owner) was standing at our back fence and he just stood there and watched the whole thing and didn’t stop it.”
She said she freaked out the second the canines began circling her. “The staffy jumped on me a couple of times while I was running, and ended up latching onto my arm and whipping me down.
“By this stage the dogs had bitten me over 30 times, ripped off all my clothes, and broke my glasses,” she said.
Unable to fight back, Ms Harraghy says she hopelessly tackled the dogs while on the ground with one biting her close to the neck.
After three unbearable minutes, her partner heard her screams from inside their home and managed to get the dogs off her.
“I started running back to the house and the dogs were still running for me; they didn’t run for my partner they just wanted me.”
“When I got inside I practically passed out and then the next thing I know the ambulance were there.”
Ms Harraghy was rushed to Dandenong Hospital where she received 60 stitches to deep gashes all over her body.
The child care assistant worker says she’ll have to take nearly a month of work to recover.
Casey Council Safer communities manager Caroline Bell confirmed local laws officers seized a dog, believed to be an American Staffordshire Cross on the day of the attack.
“A second dog, believed to be a Blue Heeler Cross, was seized the following Thursday following investigations,” she said.
“Due to the seriousness of the incident and complexity of the investigation, both dogs will remain in the care of Council for the foreseeable future.”
