Dog delivers bites to postie, animal officers

Postie Johnny Ioelu says dog bites are "part of the job". Picture / Dean Purcell

Two female animal control officers were attacked yesterday as they tried to seize two dogs that had bitten a postie and terrorised several passing pedestrians.

The dogs, believed to be family pets called Buddy and Suss, started their attack when mailman Johnny Ioelu went to deliver mail at their Otara Rd section in Otara.

"I was just going to deliver the mail and they came out and started attacking me," said the South Auckland man who has only being delivering mail for a month.

"I tried to protect myself with my bike but I couldn't because there were two of them."

While one of the dogs stood and growled the other bit Mr Ioelu on the knee, shin and calf.

"The other was helping, almost providing support."

It was only when a passing motorist pulled onto the kerb that Mr Ioelu managed to get away. He ran in the direction of a neighbour and both men ran indoors.

Police, an ambulance and animal control officers arrived to deal with the dogs.

DSS Animal Management managing director Barry Gillingwater said two officers captured the less aggressive dog without difficulty.

However, when they tried to seize the other dog, it attacked.

One officer received a scrape on the hand while her more experienced colleague received four puncture wounds in the back of her thigh and was feeling "very sore" yesterday afternoon.

Mr Gillingwater said more officers were sent to the address, which is close to an intermediate school that was about to finish for the day.

However, the dog jumped a fence and ran off after trying to have a go at a pedestrian.

The officers searched for several hours without success but were hopeful it would return home last night so they could capture it.

Mr Gillingwater said animal control officers confronted dogs almost daily but it was unusual for them to be bitten.

Neighbours had conflicting reports about the dogs, one woman saying her young daughter often played with one of the animals without a problem.

Another neighbour said he was chased by them last week and that he saw them trying to attack another pedestrian yesterday.

One elderly woman was too scared to walk past the property.

The aggressive dog is expected to be put down once found. The other dog, which was not registered, may be put down if not collected within a week.

Meanwhile, Mr Ioelu is undaunted: "It's all part of the job, it's only a few bites," he said.