Brisbane City Council is seeking to euthanise two dogs that mauled a 37-year-old man in 7th Brigade Park, Chermside, after police shot the animals during the initial response.
The attack happened near Kittyhawk Drive at about 6.15pm on Friday. The man suffered life-threatening injuries to both arms, as well as wounds to his face and legs, and was taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
His condition stabilised on Saturday, while police searched for the dogs, which had been registered to a previous address. One was found in the front yard of a home later on Friday night and the other was located on Saturday morning, reportedly asleep on a back deck.
Queensland Police said officers had been faced with “an immediate and serious safety risk”. After initial attempts to subdue the dogs failed, officers “were required to discharge their service firearms”.
Police said the use-of-force incident had been recorded and reviewed by senior officers in line with Queensland Police Service policy and procedures.
The dogs, named Louise and Ruby, are now in the possession of Brisbane City Council. The council has confirmed it will issue a destruction order, although their owner can either surrender them or appeal against the decision.
The animals’ owner, Layla Evans, was arrested on Saturday on unrelated charges. She told Nine News that the bulldog-crosses had escaped from the tent where she lived and had never previously been aggressive.
“From there [they] had proceeded to protect the campsite, I guess,” Evans said.
She said she had left the dogs in the tent while going out to dinner with a friend, and later received a call from her mother, who was with police, informing her of the attack.
Evans said she was “shattered” and had searched “all over town, all over the park” for the dogs. She said they would bark if someone approached but were otherwise “really good dogs”.
Brisbane City Council confirmed the dogs had not previously been declared dangerous.
