Woodlands, WA: Dog kills dog

"He was half-dead [when] the husky literally spat him out ... the skin was ripped off his back"

A Siberian husky attacked a toy poodle when the two crossed paths whilst being walked by their owners near Jackadder Lake.

The husky's owner, Tony Cousins, says in defence of his dog that the poodle provoked the attack by running towards his own two dogs, which were on leads.

The poodle's owner, Matti Dickinson, asked "what if it had been a child?"

Following the attack Mr Cousins walked away with his two dogs, later providing the reason that the best thing he could do for the poodle was to remove his dogs.

Ms Dickinson and her dog were driven to the vet by another man. "The skin was ripped off his back and when they x-rayed him he had a punctured lung," she said.

After her dog dies, Ms Dickinson looked up Mr Cousins in the phone book and went to his house to inform him. Mr Cousins then phoned police, saying Ms Dickinson was pounding on his door and that her actions had shaken his family very much.

Ms Dickinson accused Mr Cousins of not having control over his dogs despite their extensible leads. Mr Cousins has three registered dogs and says the Siberian huskies are people-friendly dogs which have visited old age homes and play with his 10 month old granddaughter.

Ms Dickinson bought her dog as a puppy two years ago, for $1,200.

Prepared using report "Dog kills dog", Post 20/9/08, http://www.postnewspapers.com.au/20080920/news/002.shtml, accessed 19/9/08. Images of Pucci the toy poodle (top) and Tova the Siberian husky with its owner Tony Cousins (bottom) from the source article where they are uncredited.