Dog's dinner

[MotherBear]

Postie's nightmare leaps into life
14 September 2006
By TAMMY BUCKLEY

Postie Yolanda Maletino always had a nagging fear she might be attacked by a dog but when it happened she couldn't believe it. The 19-year-old was delivering mail in Manurewa when a dog burst through a gate, sprinted towards her and latched on to her leg.

"The dog was going too fast for me to react. I only had time to say: `Oh my gosh'."
It had started barking at her as she stopped to sort mail. The dog's owner, who was watching, called for it to be quiet but it continued barking and jumped on the gate, she says. Miss Maletino says the dog broke through on the second jump, grabbed her lower leg and pulled her off her bike.

The bite penetrated her muscle and left a wound that required six stitches and staples. She was bedridden for more than a week and will soon start physiotherapy.
Miss Maletino, who has been a postie for two years, saw the wound for the first time when the stitches were removed after a week. "I can see a smile thing going on," she says. She counts herself lucky the dog let go and did not cause more serious damage.

When she returns to work she will be teamed with a buddy but is now nervous about being around dogs. Her first encounter with one after the attack left her in a panic.
Manukau City Council is prosecuting the dog's owner. Prosecution could result in a maximum fine of $20,000 and/or the dog being destroyed.

A council spokesperson says 126 court actions have been taken in the past three months over dog attacks.

[Pulsarblu]

I now better think twice about being a postie. Maybe some form of shin guard will help....

[Dawn]

People really should keep their dogs under control. The owner must have had an idea the dog might have attacked and shut it safely away! These incidences are what give dogs a bad rep in general. Irresponsible dog owners make me so angry!!! >:(

[MotherBear]

They're all having a go! Must be silly season.

'Wound-up' pig bites woman on leg
8.00am Monday September 18, 2006

A woman was airlifted to Palmerston North Hospital on Saturday after being bitten on a leg by a "wound-up" pig.

The Square Trust rescue helicopter was called to a farm near Eketahuna late in the afternoon after the woman, 41, was bitten by a boar while shifting stock.

A spokesman said the boar was "wound-up" because a sow was in season (And that's his excuse? Would be rather alarming if we all went round doing that ).

[MotherBear]

A 'taste' of his own medicine.

Man bites panda after panda bites man
22 September 2006

BEIJING: An intoxicated Chinese man who tried to give a panda a hug at Beijing Zoo found himself biting it in self defence after his clumsy attempt at affection was savagely rejected, local media reported.

Zhang Xinyan, a building worker on holiday from China's central Henan province, climbed into an enclosure that held Gu Gu, a seven-year-old panda, at Beijing Zoo after the man had drunk four pints of beer during lunch at a nearby restaurant, the Yanzhao Metropolis Daily said.

Zhang, who couldn't remember the incident clearly, had wanted to hug the panda and shake its hand after having watched similar scenes on television. "When I was in there, the panda was eating bamboo. Then, it seemed some people shouted, which startled the panda. He rushed over to bite my leg," Zhang said.

Zhang, who tried in vain to push the panda away, was bitten twice and forced to the ground, the paper said. "I took the opportunity to bite the panda's back, but its fur was too thick," Zhang said.

Eventually, a zoo worker sprayed water from a hose to rescue Zhang from the panda's clutches, the paper said. Both were worse for wear after the tussle. Zhang was rushed to hospital and given tetanus and rabies shots, while Gu Gu lost her appetite, Xinhua news agency reported.

"It was scared by the intruder and refused to eat for one and a half days," a zoo spokeswoman, surnamed Ye, told Xinhua. But Gu Gu had recovered and was back on display on Thursday.

Zhang, however, faces at least a half-month convalescence, due to the "deep wounds", Xinhua said, citing Zhang's doctor. His pride had also been injured, after reading stories of his exploits in newspapers. "I wouldn't have jumped in if I knew what would happen," Zhang said.

The zoo, which plans to install cameras to monitor the enclosure, would not prosecute, Xinhua said. But Zhang had already been tried and found guilty by Chinese Internet surfers.

"The man should be fined for the trouble he made," an anonymous commentator said in a posting on 163.com.

"He deserved to be bitten."