MID-June my wife was walking alone along the footpath on West Tamar Road approaching the Cataract Gorge Bridge when she was viciously set upon by two dogs that ran down from a house on the city end of Trevallyn Road.
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The attack resulted in a very severe leg wound that required immediate paramedic attention and hospital treatment.
Follow up wound treatment has required visits to the doctor's surgery three times a week for the past five weeks and will require ongoing treatment for at least another month and later, possible plastic reconstruction surgery.
Launceston City Council rangers and police were called immediately after the attack to investigate.
The dogs were impounded by the council.
Since, discussions with the council reveal that the dog owner is protected under the Privacy Act and his or her name cannot be divulged to the victim. The council is protected from any litigation under state laws and will probably profit by imposing a fine on the dog owner.
The dogs are protected in that the owner is required to provide them a new purpose-built shelter and they cannot be destroyed unless by order of a magistrate.
Meanwhile, the victim is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, requiring psychiatric treatment as well as the ongoing medical treatment and cannot even establish the identity of the dog owners from the council to seek compensation.
It is very apparent that despite much recent public discussion on victim rights, nothing is changing.
- FRANK ATKINS, Trevallyn.
