Medic puts down enraged pit bull

MELBOURNE - A paramedic had to use medical supplies to put down an American pit bull terrier that had its jaws locked on a terrified Melbourne man's hand as police tried to restrain the frenzied animal.

Intensive care paramedic Robert Voss couldn't believe what he witnessed when called to Arundel Ave in Reservoir, in Melbourne's north, where a roaming pit bull had attacked a man walking his two small dogs on Sunday.

The pit bull killed one of the smaller dogs and injured the other, before clamping down on the man's hand when he tried to intervene.

The incident has renewed calls for the controversial breed to be banished from Australia.

Two policemen were trying to restrain the dog and free the injured man's hand when Mr Voss arrived.

"Usually that fear and terror you see after a major disaster," Mr Voss told ABC Radio yesterday.

He said the dog's owner, later taken in for questioning by police, wasn't sighted.

Mr Voss' immediate reaction was to ask the police officers how he could help.

"They said they had called the ranger to come and euthanase the dog," he said. "I said that we could assist with that. As a last resort, we euthanased the dog for them. We used some sedation and then some paralysing agents."

Even then, everyone was still "scared and frightened".

Mr Voss said the police were loath to fire their weapons at the dog.

"They were going to euthanase the dog with one of their firearms but unfortunately, it was too dangerous to do so," he said. "There were people there, the bullet could have ricocheted and hit somebody. It was a frenzied attack. You probably couldn't have got a clear shot anyway."

The injured man was taken to hospital but, according to Mr Voss, was fortunate to escape with lacerations.

The vicious incident has sparked another call from the RSPCA's Victorian president, Dr Hugh Wirth, to have the breed exterminated.

Dr Wirth said the dogs were a menace and not suitable as pets for anyone.

But the president of the American pit bull club of Australia, Colin Muir, said responsibility of ownership - rather than a dog's breed - was the issue.

"Essentially at this point, the breed is banned," Mr Muir told ABC Radio. "You haven't been able to legally own a pit bull terrier unless it was here before December 2005. The problem with restricting or banning a breed of dog, all that does is shift the problem to a different breed of dog."

- AAP