Teens stop attack by pet pitbull

Police have praised four teenagers who rescued a woman from a vicious attack by her own dog on the banks of the Opihi River near Temuka yesterday morning.

The woman, believed to be in her 30s, suffered serious arm injuries and was in Timaru Hospital awaiting surgery.

The dog, described as a staffordshire pitbull cross, has been destroyed.

The youths were praised for coming to the woman's rescue.

"She had quite bad injuries to her arms and had lost a lot of blood," said Senior Constable John Mawhinney.

"If they hadn't come along when they did she may have died from the shock."

One of the youths, Bradley Ross, said it looked as though the woman and her dog were play-fighting but then the teenagers, riding by on motorcycles, heard her crying for help.

"We were telling her to keep still," Bradley said.

"The dog kept barking and went back to her a couple of times."

- NZPA