A woman has been mauled by two large dogs which had to be shot, one five times, when Taser guns failed to subdue the animals during the frenzied attack south of Perth.
The 29-year-old woman was critically injured when set upon by two Bull Mastiff dogs after jumping a fence at her mother's house at Mandurah yesterday afternoon to help a puppy in distress, police said.
Health authorities have told police the the woman was lucky to survive the attack and would have died had the helicopter arrived two minutes later.
"I saw the poor girl laying there with all the dogs around her and her mum was just yelling, 'They're eating her'," neighbour Barbara Mitchell told a Perth newspaper.
The dogs continued to attack even after several shots were fired, one policeman said.
"Both dogs received several gunshot wounds, one dog took five shots before it would drop," he said
Police spokesman Ian Hasleby said the woman had climbed the fence and was then attacked by two big Bull Mastiff dogs.
"As she tried to get back over the fence the dogs took hold and dragged her back into the yard and began a frenzied attack," he said.
"The woman's mother took a garden hose and sprayed the dogs in an attempt to keep them at bay as three police officers arrived."
Police used Taser guns to little effect and were forced to shoot and kill one of the dogs with their firearms. The second dog was shot by council rangers.
A third large dog was secured and removed from the yard by rangers.
Mr Hasleby said the woman was transferred from the Peel Health Campus by helicopter to the Royal Perth Hospital for emergency treatment to serious wounds to her face, legs and body.
Her condition today is critical but stable.
A police officer was bitten on the leg during the attack and attended hospital for a tetanus shot.
The dog's owners have yet to be contacted. They were not at home at the time of the attack, The West Australian reported.
. Dangerous dogs shouldn't be kept as pets.
