Spare my other dogs, owner pleads
May 26, 2004

THE family of Daniella Donaldson, who was mauled by her pitbull terrier on Saturday, has appealed to Liverpool Council to spare the lives of three of her four pet dogs.

Mrs Donaldson's sister-in-law, Erin Carpenter, last night told The Daily Telegraph that only one dog - the older male - turned on its owner when she tried to stop all four dogs attacking a neighbour's jack russell terrier which had got into her front yard.

"The two dogs that escaped are seven-month-old puppies and they weren't involved in an attack on a human," Mrs Carpenter said.

"The male dog is their father. They're probably petrified and hiding from anyone that comes near them."

Mrs Donaldson accepted that the dog which turned on her should be put down, Mrs Carpenter said.

But she said her sister-in-law was hesitant about the other three dogs. "She wants to see the state of the female dog and find the two pups before she decides anything."

Mrs Carpenter defended the dogs over the vicious attack which killed the jack russell.

"The dogs are territorial and the jack russell got under the fence into their yard," she said.

Mrs Donaldson is in a stable condition in Liverpool Hospital recovering from bites to her arms.

Yesterday, Liverpool Council rangers were within a whisker of catching the two pups who were last seen in bushland at the rear of the Donaldson's property.

Residents have sighted the dogs several times.

The Daily Telegraph

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Do you think the dogs should not be destroyed?