1
00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:02,600
Speaker 1: But look, I had read in the paper over the

2
00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:05,280
Speaker 1: weekend that a little girl had been attacked by a

3
00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:08,200
Speaker 1: dog in Wallagi earlier this month, and her mummy is

4
00:00:08,280 --> 00:00:12,080
Speaker 1: calling for more to be done to control dangerous pets now.

5
00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:15,880
Speaker 1: Cadence Hewish, ten years old, spent two nights in hospital

6
00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:19,360
Speaker 1: undergoing surgery for bite wounds after a dog attacked her

7
00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:23,480
Speaker 1: while she was riding her bike. Her mum, Imagen, joins

8
00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:27,880
Speaker 1: me on the line right now. Good morning to you, Imagen. Oh,

9
00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:30,680
Speaker 1: good morning, thanks so much for your time this morning.

10
00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:33,160
Speaker 1: Tell me what happened to your little girl.

11
00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:35,680
Speaker 2: Yes, so she.

12
00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,800
Speaker 3: Works spending the day with her cousins and they were

13
00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:44,360
Speaker 3: riding their push bits over to our auntie's place. Yep,

14
00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:50,240
Speaker 3: and yeah, on her ride back home she was attacked

15
00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:51,160
Speaker 3: by a dog.

16
00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,120
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, Imagen, tell me what sort of happened,

17
00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,680
Speaker 1: you know, in terms of that attack and the first

18
00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:01,400
Speaker 1: you heard of it.

19
00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:07,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, So they were riding in a single file and

20
00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:09,920
Speaker 2: there were about five of them, her and her younger cousins,

21
00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:15,479
Speaker 2: and yeah, she just said that a dog came running

22
00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:18,840
Speaker 2: out of the yard and bit her on the leg

23
00:01:18,959 --> 00:01:23,759
Speaker 2: and just started, yeah, shaking her leg and yeah, sinking

24
00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:25,120
Speaker 2: its teeth into her legs.

25
00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:29,039
Speaker 1: Oh, the poor little scene.

26
00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:34,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was quite distressing for everyone involved. So family

27
00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,680
Speaker 2: were actually five or six houses down the street that

28
00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:41,800
Speaker 2: she had just come from and heard her screens and

29
00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,640
Speaker 2: just ran down the road because they knew they just

30
00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:45,520
Speaker 2: heard her screaming.

31
00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:49,320
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness. So God, I've got a child that's

32
00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:53,120
Speaker 1: ten as well who rides his bike offfen And I

33
00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:55,680
Speaker 1: can't imagine how your family and how you and how

34
00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:57,960
Speaker 1: you little one felt when this all unfolded.

35
00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:03,160
Speaker 2: Ah. Yeah, getting that phone call that she had been

36
00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:07,440
Speaker 2: bitten by a dog, Yeah, it was quite scary. Didn't

37
00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:09,600
Speaker 2: know what to expect when we got to the hospital

38
00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:12,720
Speaker 2: because by that time my sister in law and brother

39
00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:15,359
Speaker 2: had already gotten onto the scene and picked her up,

40
00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:17,720
Speaker 2: and she was covered in blood and that was stemming

41
00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,320
Speaker 2: the bleeding, and rushed her just straight to hospital.

42
00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:26,079
Speaker 1: Oh image, and tell me how bad were the injuries.

43
00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:28,600
Speaker 1: She obviously had to spend a couple of days in hospital.

44
00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,240
Speaker 2: Yeah. So there were three puncture wounds on her legs

45
00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:38,720
Speaker 2: from the dog's teeth, and when the doctors went to

46
00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,120
Speaker 2: clean it, they said that they didn't realize how deep

47
00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:45,120
Speaker 2: they actually were, So she needed to have surgery to

48
00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:47,800
Speaker 2: get in really deep and clean those wounds.

49
00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,400
Speaker 1: Poor little thing. How is she now these you know,

50
00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:53,440
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks on.

51
00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:58,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's only just really closed up now, so

52
00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:02,160
Speaker 2: she had to have bandages on and she's very active

53
00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:04,960
Speaker 2: and say so she's not been able to participate in

54
00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:11,280
Speaker 2: sports for these couple of weeks. Yeah, she's yeah, a

55
00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:12,079
Speaker 2: normal now.

56
00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:14,800
Speaker 1: Well that is good to hear. What about like, how

57
00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:17,240
Speaker 1: do you reckon she's going to go around like around

58
00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:18,440
Speaker 1: dogs again?

59
00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, she's already said I don't like dogs anymore.

60
00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:24,920
Speaker 2: And you know when we went for a walk the

61
00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:27,280
Speaker 2: other night and the dogs came up, she ran and

62
00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:31,080
Speaker 2: hid behind everybody. Poor little effect on her.

63
00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:36,040
Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, tell me what's been the reaction then from

64
00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:38,880
Speaker 1: counsel and what's sort of been the reaction since the attack?

65
00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:46,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I had really no response from the rangers. So, yeah,

66
00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:50,440
Speaker 2: one of the rangers has been on leave. He asked

67
00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:52,480
Speaker 2: me to do a stat deck before he went on leave,

68
00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,320
Speaker 2: so I had to complete reform about what had happened.

69
00:03:56,880 --> 00:03:59,360
Speaker 2: I'd gotten that all filled out and sent back through him,

70
00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:01,400
Speaker 2: and then I hadn't her from him for you know,

71
00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:03,880
Speaker 2: over a week it's been you know, two weeks now,

72
00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:07,880
Speaker 2: and he said, look, sorry, I've been on leave in Melbourne.

73
00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,760
Speaker 2: Pass on to this other ranger. So I spoke to

74
00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:16,200
Speaker 2: him the other day and yeah, there's just no urgency

75
00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:22,040
Speaker 2: about you know, locating the dog and impounding or seizing him.

76
00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:25,880
Speaker 2: The second ranger that contacted me was asking me information

77
00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:29,360
Speaker 2: that had already been provided at the start, like where

78
00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:31,800
Speaker 2: does the person live or what's the description of the.

79
00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:35,000
Speaker 1: Dog, And you go, you've already done that, Like you've

80
00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:36,080
Speaker 1: already provided all that.

81
00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:40,359
Speaker 2: INFI yeah, the police recalled there. You should have this information.

82
00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:44,719
Speaker 2: The dog should have been taken immediately. You know, that's

83
00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:48,359
Speaker 2: a main road in Wallagi that kids often walk down

84
00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:50,640
Speaker 2: and as a parent, you let your kid walk to

85
00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:54,680
Speaker 2: school if you live in the area, and a negligent

86
00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:58,200
Speaker 2: owner like this that just leaves his gate open and

87
00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:01,880
Speaker 2: his dog to attack a child, you know that's going

88
00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:02,599
Speaker 2: to happen again.

89
00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:05,320
Speaker 1: Well, you would think at the very least that the

90
00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:07,920
Speaker 1: council would have gone over there and tried to work

91
00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:10,520
Speaker 1: out exactly what's gone on. I mean, the fact a

92
00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,360
Speaker 1: little girl has had to go and have surgery and

93
00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,320
Speaker 1: then there's been no follow up is quite unbelievable.

94
00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:21,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, two weeks they haven't contacted me or anything. I've

95
00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:23,880
Speaker 2: been the one pressing it, pressing it, and I just

96
00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:25,680
Speaker 2: said to a council last week, look, I'm going to

97
00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:29,160
Speaker 2: the empty news. You're not responding to me. Within an

98
00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:30,400
Speaker 2: hour they were calling.

99
00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,920
Speaker 1: Me, well, look, where do you to have We usually

100
00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,120
Speaker 1: on a Tuesday morning have the Lord Mayor of Darwin

101
00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:38,400
Speaker 1: on the show. So Image and we'll try and find

102
00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:41,080
Speaker 1: out tomorrow exactly what the go is. But what do

103
00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:43,120
Speaker 1: you like, what do you think the council needs to

104
00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:45,880
Speaker 1: do here and to safeguard other kids?

105
00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:49,880
Speaker 2: You know, they needed to have taken this dog the

106
00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:54,680
Speaker 2: day that it had attacked my daughter. You know, they're

107
00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:56,560
Speaker 2: saying that they've gone out to the house and they

108
00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:59,240
Speaker 2: can't locate the dog. So the owner's hiding the dog

109
00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:01,520
Speaker 2: or putting it in the house. We're taking it somewhere else.

110
00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:04,440
Speaker 2: He should be getting off fine, he should be held

111
00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:06,719
Speaker 2: accountable for what my daughter has gone through.

112
00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:10,799
Speaker 1: Well, Image and we will speak to the council tomorrow

113
00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:13,440
Speaker 1: morning and we'll try our best to you know, to

114
00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:15,880
Speaker 1: get to the bottom of what the counsel is going

115
00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:18,400
Speaker 1: to do. To make sure that you know that this

116
00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:22,000
Speaker 1: doesn't happen to somebody else, and I think that, you know, ultimately,

117
00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:24,800
Speaker 1: we're so lucky that your little girl is going to

118
00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:25,359
Speaker 1: be okay.

119
00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you. Yeah, yeah, it could have been a

120
00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:32,279
Speaker 2: lot worse. There were smaller kids, there were there, and

121
00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:34,680
Speaker 2: we're just thankful it doing. The dog didn't attacked the

122
00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:35,640
Speaker 2: smaller kids.

123
00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:40,240
Speaker 1: Well yeah, honestly, Yeah, Like I really feel for you.

124
00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:41,880
Speaker 1: Like I said, I've got a little one who's the

125
00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:43,640
Speaker 1: same age, and you should be able to let your

126
00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:46,200
Speaker 1: kids ride around. You should be able to let them

127
00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:49,520
Speaker 1: walk home from school without the fear of something that's

128
00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:55,520
Speaker 1: so preventable happening. Yeah, Imagen, thank you for speaking to

129
00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:57,920
Speaker 1: us this morning. We'll speak to you again very soon.

130
00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:00,000
Speaker 3: Great, thank you.

131
00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:00,280
Speaker 1: Inqu