KEY POINTS:
A pitbull dog which savaged a two-year-old boy in west Auckland yesterday had been trained as an aggressive guard dog, animal control officers said today.
The toddler was today in a critical condition in Auckland's Starship Hospital with multiple fractures and severe facial injuries.
"We understand this dog was being kept as a guard dog rather than a pet," Waitakere City Council animal control manager Neil Wells said.
He said it was not known if the dog was trained to fight but its aggressive tendencies had been encouraged and that was a scary thought.
The red-nosed pitbull was in the city pound and would be destroyed because it was a danger to the community, Mr Wells said.
Police were speaking to the owners and the council would hold the dog until it got a court order to have it destroyed.
"We will not be releasing it - at all."
Mr Wells said animal control officers needed two catch poles to restrain the dog at its Te Atatu home.
It was so aggressive one of the strong aluminium poles bent as the dog was put into a cage.
He had never heard of a dog being so aggressive.
"On a scale of one to 10, I would put it as a 10."
Mr Wells said the dog was chained up when the toddler wandered into its area.
"A child of that age should never be left unsupervised with any dog."
He said the dog could never be trusted again.
"You could not take that risk. Any behaviour it has is going to be inherent. You wouldn't be able to retrain that dog."
He said the council's animal control officers had been distressed by the attack.
- NZPA
