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ANIMAL WATCH - An eight-year-old girl, named Poppy, went next door for what was supposed to be a simple, after-school playdate on a summer evening in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, while her mother prepared the family’s dinner, according to The Post.
Almost immediately, the mother, Katie, heard blood-curdling screams, which she recognized as her daughter, and she “dropped everything” and ran as fast as she could to the house.
But, by the time she got there, Poppy (not child’s real name to protect her privacy) had already been rushed to the hospital by the neighboring family.
That’s when Katie learned that her daughter had been bitten by a Pit Bull, listed as a 2-year-old Mastiff-cross. This is a common description for a Pit Bull by animal agencies, which are pressured by major humane organizations and political influencers worldwide not to identify Pit Bull dogs in order to have a better chance to get them rehomed with adopters.
Reportedly, the girls had been playing in the front yard, near a visiting dog-owner’s vehicle, with the dog inside—-when the Pit Bull jumped out and attacked Poppy.
When Poppy’s mother arrived at the scene, still in her pajamas, both of the neighbors, who were adult sisters, were crying, she told The Post. At that point, I didn’t know if my daughter was alive or not. I was like, “Where is she? What’s happening?”
“Katie was later shocked to discover the animal had previously bitten another young woman in the face ‒ just four months before the attack on her daughter,” according to the report.
And the only answer she got was, “We’re so sorry.”
This incident was just the beginning of a brave, journey for an 8-year-old girl and her mother, who refuses to allow increasing attacks—especially on children--by dogs trained and used for fighting and killing, to be just another tragic issue ignored by local government.
ANIMAL CONTROL PROTECTING A “DANGEROUS DOG”?
From the photo shown above, this dog definitely appears to lack the deep-wrinkled muzzle, massive size and muscular body of Mastiff dogs that fought bears, lions and other large animals in pits in ancient times. But, it has the appearance, of a modern Pit Bull Terrier.
Hamilton Animal Control agency makes a point that this was the dog’s “first recorded attack.” Regardless of how many attacks had been reported, this dog ripped off a part of a young child’s lip and seriously disfigured her face for life. And, according to the information provided, it did have a prior reported bite history, which means not only the dog but the owner must be held responsible.
Dispelling a myth too often used to excuse bites, there is NO plausible way a healthy, mature dog could have felt “threatened” by an eight-year-old child in this situation, where it reportedly had to jump out of a parked car to attack her and inflict a heartbreaking disfigurement to her face.
HORRIFIC INJURY DESCRIBED
When Katie saw her beautiful daughter’s face at the hospital, she discovered that “Poppy” was missing 1.5 cm from her upper lip.
She also had severe tearing to her lower lip.” And, she was sitting in her school uniform, “covered in blood,” according to Katie’s description.
The attack was given a seriousness rating of 34/35 by Hastings Animal Control ‒ the most serious “35” being death.
Poppy was immediately flown to Wellington Hospital for emergency surgery, according to the New Zealand Herald.
VICTIM’S LIP PLACED IN A ZIP-LOCK BAG
“While her top lip had been picked up and put in a zip-lock bag, it was not able to be reattached. She was unable to eat or talk properly for weeks after the surgery and was left with a severely scarred and deformed mouth,” her mother states.
Katie later learned that the dog’s owner was living in her car while visiting the family. The owner excused the incident, stating, “She believed the dog viewed the car as his home and was acting protectively when the two girls approached.”
DOG HAD ATTACKED BEFORE
However, documents from Hamilton City Council later showed the same dog bit a young woman ‒ a relative of his owner ‒ at an earlier party in Hamilton—at which time he lunged at her from underneath a table, biting her and inflicting serious facial injuries. The woman received a large gash between her eyebrows, as well as a cut on the corner of her mouth. The wound left a scar and required stitches.
The victim at that time also told Hamilton Animal Control the dog had bitten before.
“The owner is aware she can’t control it,” the Council documents note, adding that “the dog was proclaimed “menacing,” and the owner was ordered in the future to have him “muzzled, leashed or caged at all times.”
PIT BULL ATTACKS HAVE PLAGUED NEW ZELAND
As early as 2016, an animal control officer told RNZ.CO.NZ News “There are too many attacked by pit bull-type dogs and they are inflicting horrific damage on children.”
An article titled,” Too Many 'Horrific Attacks' by Pit Bulls” on April 11, 2016, talks about a seven year-old boy who was hospitalized in Takanini after a savage attack by his uncle’s Pit Bull Terrier, and media outlets were swamped with citizens demanding tighter regulations on this breed, said then-Animal Control Officer's Institute President Les Dalton.
Mr. Dalton, who had been an animal control officer for 40 years admitted that the problem of attacks by pit bulls was “only getting worse.”
"However, if you look back over this last five years, the most horrific attacks we've had on children and elderly people and other persons - they have been the pit-bull type dogs.”
"And particularly in the last decade, we've had children maimed and disfigured for life by these dogs” he said, adding that, “The government needs to change the Dog Control Act to ensure pit bull type dogs - and others deemed menacing or dangerous – are neutered or spayed,” he said.
(Note: Although the fact that a dog is spayed or neutered does not directly determine its temperament, de-sexing/neutering can eliminate the mating drive, which is one of the main reasons for aggression and fighting, and can cause a human to be hurt while trying to intervene, or a child to be attacked because it does not sense the danger.)
"When I talk about the pit-bull type, Dalton explained, I'm talking about the pit bull-cross, (the) Staffordshire bull terrier, the mastiff-cross pit bull, and all the associated breeds. We need to neuter and spay and we need to ensure very strict restrictions on people who are keeping those breeds."
The Association of Plastic Surgeons at that time also called for an investigation into the banning of dangerous breeds of dogs - and said it was “dealing with two patients a week who have been attacked.”
However, Chief Science Officer for the SPCA, Arnja Dale, said banning specific breeds, or types of dogs like pit bull terriers, did not work. She said the science showed that the biggest factor in dog bites was not the breed of the dog but whether its owner could behave responsibly.
And, American Pit Bull Terrier Association spokeswoman Karen Batchelor also said “public safety was not improved by singling out specific breeds, and questioned who would find the animals and fund the de-sexing. (Read more here.)
A MOTHER’S FIGHT FOR JUSTICE IN 2025
Oh January 24, 2025, Linda Hall, reporter for NZ Herald Hawke’s Bay Today, discussed, ”Why a mother’s fight for justice continues after daughter’s dog attack in 2020.“
On January 24, 2025, Linda Hall, reporter for NZ Herald Hawke’s Bay Today, discussed, ”Why a mother’s fight for justice continues after daughter’s dog attack in 2020.“
“Katie said the information from Hamilton City and Hastings District councils angered and saddened her,” she said. Documents showed Hastings District Council impounded the dog and wrote: “HDC believes that the release of the dog would threaten the safety of any person, stock, poultry, domestic pet or protected wildlife.
“If Hamilton City Council had taken the same action just four months earlier, Poppy would still have lips and she would still be smiling,” Katie said.
(Phyllis M. Daugherty is a former Los Angeles City employee, an animal activist and a contributor to CityWatch.)
