Two dogs have been put down after a frenzied attack on ewes, lambs and alpacas that were being raised by Batemans Bay High School students.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Eurobodalla Shire Council ranger Phil Hibel said the dogs were officially surrendered by their concerned owners on Tuesday and destroyed on Wednesday morning.
The ranger confirmed the dogs were male and female Staffordshire bull terriers and not a restricted breed.
The pair were caught on the school grounds during a sickening attack on the school’s beloved animals that were kept in a fenced agricultural plot.
School staff who ran to the scene saw the dogs in a frenzied attack on a pregnant alpaca and got them off but it was too late to save her or the other animals in the herd.
A vet was called who then put down the badly injured animals - two ewes, a lamb, and two alpacas.
Staff also secured the dogs in a shed.
Mr Hibel, who also went to the scene, said it was one of the worst attacks he had attended in regard to the nature and severity of the injuries.
“You just don’t know. You can never underestimate any dog,” he said, when asked what might have set them off.
“Staffy owners must be reminded that they are a very strong breed of dog and can climb or push over flimsy fences,” he said.
Mr Hibel said the offending dogs in this matter had been registered, microchipped and were not previously known to be violent.
He said their owners would be fined over the attack.
However, Mr Hibel noted that Staffordshire bull terriers had a history of attacking other animals but not of attacking people.
NSW Local Government figures show that for 2010/11 the breed had the most registrations of any pure breed with 74,567 and was responsible for 650 reported attacks.
However the attacks as a percentage of the number registered ranked the breed at 19.