A council in Melbourne's southeast has confirmed the house where a woman was mauled by three dogs yesterday had been the subject of multiple complaints by neighbours. The chief executive of Greater Dandenong council says she's concerned by the attack and is encouraging members of the community to report similar incidents. Meanwhile, the victim of the attack remains in a critical condition.
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00:00It's a tragic incident neighbours feared could happen.
00:06Police were called to this property.
00:07When they arrived, they witnessed a woman being mauled by three dogs.
00:12They used capsicum spray before shooting the dogs.
00:15The woman rushed to hospital.
00:17We're always concerned about any dangerous dogs and we're particularly concerned about
00:22any dog attacks.
00:24It's not very common, but any attack is one attack too many.
00:28The council today says it had received a number of complaints about the house where
00:32the woman was attacked and had previously taken action.
00:35According to hospital data, dog bite injuries have been steadily increasing.
00:40Since 2017, they've gone up by 47 per cent, which experts say is in line with rising rates
00:46of dog ownership.
00:47The RSPCA says there can be many reasons why dogs bite.
00:52It's situational, it's circumstantial, there's a number of reasons as to why a dog might
00:56attack and that may be from medical conditions, it may be environmental, it may be the situation
01:01that the dog has been placed into.
01:03And despite community concerns about certain breeds, experts say any dog can become violent.
01:09There's no great statistical difference between a golden retriever biting you and a dog that
01:13might fall under that pit bull umbrella.
01:14If residents are concerned about dogs, we really encourage them to report any concerns
01:19immediately to your local council.
01:21This year alone, Dandenong Council has successfully prosecuted 11 serious dog attack cases.
01:27We take it very seriously.
01:29Victoria Police say investigations into the matter are ongoing, but for now one woman
01:33is here at Dandenong Hospital fighting for her life.
01:36And a community is in shock.