A two-year-old girl underwent emergency surgery last night after losing part of her ear when a pack of stray dogs attacked her in the family compound at Narewa, Nadi, yesterday morning.

The attack left her family in a state of shock, with a call for tighter controls on the stray dog population in the tourist town because of the ferocity of the attack.

Amari Whippy was recovering from the surgery last night when a Fiji Sun team contacted her family about the attack and the extent of her injuries.

Her mother, Lydia, said the toddler also suffered injuries to the back of her head.

Ms Whippy said the attack by the pack of eight stray dogs took less than a minute, but the ferocity was alarming.

She said the dogs had entered the compound after 8am yesterday when Amari was playing on the porch.

“She was playing outside this morning around 8.15am. My nanny arrived about 8am and we were cleaning up the porch and she was playing outside with her three-year-old sister,” she said.

“We noticed a pack of stray dogs underneath the mango tree in our yard.

“There were around seven or eight of them. They must have come from the fence next door because they have come into our compound before, but they have never really done anything, they just bark at our dogs.

“Once they ran after my son when he was about to go to the shop.”

Ms Whippy said in a span of 10 seconds, the dogs attacked Amari.

“I was going to get ready for work and my nanny was just standing at the door where she could see them playing and she just turned her head away to talk to me for 10 seconds and then we heard the dogs fighting,” she added.

“Then my nanny and I ran out screaming and all I could see was her (Amari) face down on the grass and it looked like she was a doll just being moved around and even my dog was bitten as well.

“They ripped her whole diaper off, her T-shirt and left deep bites on her.

“Her wounds are really deep and her flesh was sticking out. They took a piece of her ear off and bit the back of her head.”

She said upon reaching Zens Medical Centre in Nadi, medical professionals transferred Amari to the Lautoka Hospital for further examination.

Amari had her surgery at 8pm yesterday and the family was now waiting to see the extent of injuries and other medical treatment she may need.

When the Fiji Sun contacted the Nadi Town Council Special Administrator Robin Ali at 6.31pm last night for a general statement on the issue of stray dogs in Nadi because he was not aware of the issue, he said “I will talk to my people and I will comment.

“What sort of comment can I make at this time without finding out about anything?

“If we would have come to know a bit earlier or during working hours our boys would have gone and checked on that.”

However, as Amari’s family deals with the nightmare and shock from the attack they are seeking answers about the stray dog issue and how it can be controlled.

The family will report the incident to Police.

Edited by Epineri Vula

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