Woman Mauled by Hunting Dogs - Suffers Nearly Fatal Injuries
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I’m originally from Southeast Oklahoma where deer hunting is a way of life. Although not legal in Oklahoma, I recall often hearing people “running dogs” during deer season. “Running dogs” is essentially where you use dogs trained to scent deer and use them to drive deer out of wooded areas. Dogs can also be used in various areas to hunt pigs, raccoons, ducks among other animals. They are also used to retrieve and find wounded animals.
I’ve represented Oklahoma dog bite clients for years. I’ve seen severe scarring to the face and body. I’ve seen the elderly as well as children bit. I’ve seen people’s faces scarred forever. Dog proponents, many times justifiable so, point to poor environmental factors as the cause of these bites. I frankly can’t speak to environmental factors but I can speak to the horrific injuries that can be caused by dogs.
You may be wondering what in the world does my hunting colloquy has to do with Oklahoma dog bite cases. Technically nothing as I know of no example of Oklahoma dogs used for hunting mauling a human. Nonetheless, a story out of New Zealand shows that there is such a danger. According to Yahoo.com a New Zealand jogger suffered serious injuries from multiple dog bite wounds. Apparently eight dogs used for hunting pigs attacked her as she jogged. According to Yahoo.com
The woman suffered scores of bites to her scalp, arms and legs before the dogs ran off. Rescue services flew the woman to Waikato Hospital by helicopter where she had nine hours of surgery overnight Monday, emergency specialist Dr. John Bonning said. "She was the most seriously injured person that been injured by dog bites I have ever seen. She had injuries all over her body — to her arms, her neck, her back, her legs and it sounds like an absolutely horrific attack," he said.
While this is a sad and tragic and we wish a speedy recovery for Ms. Christensen, her ordeal can be a teaching lesson. According to the article
The woman, Margit Christensen, 36, told him she curled into fetal position to protect herself during the 15-minute attack — a move that saved her life, he told National Radio.
One of the techniques you should use if attacked by a dog is to get in the fetal position. While your in the fetal position stay still and protect your face, chest, and throat, I will post more in the near future on how to survive a dog attack.