Fearful parents on the alert for dogs

By AINSLEY THOMSON

After Friday's horrific dog attack, Sue Farrant took no risks on a trip to the park with her grand-children yesterday afternoon - she went armed with a cricket bat.

Every Monday Mrs Farrant takes her grandchildren to Cox's Bay Reserve, where 7-year-old Carolina Anderson was seriously injured by a dog on Friday night.

But yesterday in the usually relaxed suburban park the atmosphere was a little different.

The dog that attacked Carolina has not been found - making people using the park anxious.

Mrs Farrant was worried about her 3-year-old grand-daughter, Chloe Topping, who loves dogs and likes to run up and hug them.

She was watching Chloe carefully, but the cricket bat was there for extra protection.

Mrs Farrant is concerned about the number of unleashed dogs in the park.

Yesterday afternoon, a number of dogs, some of them unsupervised, were running around the park, close to where children were playing cricket.

Mrs Farrant knows from personal experience how fierce dogs can be. She has scars on her arm from a dog bite and says she is now terrified of them.

Other people in the park yesterday shared Mrs Farrant's concerns.

Debbie Bell from Mt Albert said she was nervous about her son going to cricket practice there after hearing about the attack.

She had spoken to him about keeping away from unfamiliar dogs, but hoped he would not need the advice.

Margo Nicholson, also from Mt Albert, goes to the park twice a week with her children. She said she had not noticed problems there before, but would keep a close eye on her youngest son, who liked patting dogs.

Police and Auckland City Council are still searching for the dog involved in Friday evening's attack.