WARNING: DISTRESSING IMAGES

A vicious dog, a little girl mauled within millimetres of her life and a heroic grandmother. A family reveals what happened on that traumatic day and their fight to get authorities to use the full force of the law. But did they get justice? Kelly Makiha reports.

“Oh my God, he’s out.”

The Lewis family heard the words. Minutes later, little Sienna Lewis’ 5-year-old body was between the jaws of a dog.

She was lifted off the ground. Its teeth sank into her leg, arm and hand, millimetres from a main artery.

Sienna is lucky to be alive.

The actions of her 68-year-old grandmother, Sue Knowles, were heroic. The Rotorua woman wrestled the dog to the ground and prised open its jaw releasing the little girl from its grasp.

Now Sienna’s Rotorua family is taking the Western Bay of Plenty District Council to task over its decision not to prosecute the dog’s owner.

In an email to the family this month, the council said there was a “significant cost” in bringing a legal case. The email said the dog had already been destroyed - something which, if it won a court case, would be an outcome.

The council said in response to Rotorua Daily Post Weekend questions it now had new information and was re-looking at its decision not to prosecute.

The dog’s owner, Sheree Kearney, told the Rotorua Daily Post Weekend it was a “terrible situation” and devastating for both sides. She said they were no longer dog breeders because they did not want anything like that to happen again.

Sienna Lewis, 6, with her parents, Krystie and James Lewis. Photo / Andrew Warner

Krystie Lewis and her two children, Sienna, and then 3-month-old baby, Scarlett, travelled with her mother, Knowles, to Te Puna with the view of buying a Black Russian Terrier puppy it had viewed at the property a few weeks earlier.

The first time the family visited the breeders, they were told to text first to ensure a dog at the property was locked before they came up the driveway. They were given the same instructions on December 4.

Krystie said they owned a Great Dane so they were not afraid of big dogs.

Sienna was mingling with the puppies and Krystie was about to pay the $4000 to buy one in an online transaction when they heard a man at the house, one of the breeders, say “Oh my God, he’s out”.

Sienna Lewis, 6, in Tauranga Hospital after she was attacked by a dog. Photo / Supplied

Krystie and Sue said the dog - the sire of the litter - approached slowly like a lion, slowly striking its legs as it edged closer. Sue said it appeared to be fixated on Sienna and was walking in a stalking motion.

Then the dog pounced on Sienna from behind knocking her to the ground. She must have turned her head at the right time as later they found a dog’s tooth mark at the top of her forehead, a graze across her cheek from its teeth and a clump of her hair missing.

The bite marks on the back of Sienna Lewis' legs as they started to heal. Photo / Supplied

Once on the ground on her stomach, the dog sunk his teeth into the back of her leg.

Sue said Sienna managed to get up but the dog then bit her on the arm and hand, lifting her off the ground with the little girl between its teeth. If the bite mark had been a few centimetres over her knuckle, she would have lost part of her finger.

“I just did what anyone would do,” Sue told the Rotorua Daily Post Weekend.

“I was grappling with him on the ground and managed to open his jaw.”

Krystie said the family rushed to their car where, thankfully, she had left their baby girl in her capsule.

They made the 25-minute drive to Tauranga Hospital. That night Sienna underwent surgery.

Krystie now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and can’t get certain images out of her head - including her fear the dog had initially bitten her daughter’s face off.

“This was not a dog bite. This is a dog mauling a child with intent to kill. It was like a shark attack. He just kept going,” she said through tears.

She described her daughter as being a “superstar” throughout her ordeal but her daughter was now incredibly fearful of dogs she didn’t know - especially large black and brown dogs.

During the past four months, James had contacted the council for updates on their prosecution. More than four months went by before he got the email on April 14 advising of the council’s decision.

James said it had taken everything in him to control how he felt towards the dog owners.

“We are so lucky Sienna is still here,’' he said.

In his opinion: ‘‘These owners should be stopped from having dogs for life.”

He said there was “nothing on this earth” that should stop them from having the “full weight of the law” inflicted on them as a consequence.

“There has been no support whatsoever given to my wife, my mother-in-law and my daughter. What am I paying my taxes for? I almost lost my daughter and they say ‘... the dog has been destroyed, don’t worry about it’.”

Kearney said she tried to contact the Lewis family but was told by the council they did not want to hear from her. The Lewis’ confirmed this was correct as Kearney contacted them in the days after the attack and they were focused on Sienna’s recovery and were not up to speaking with them.

Kearney said she had no idea how their 3-and-a-half-year-old dog, Eco, got out of the house. She said he didn’t like strangers coming onto the property, possibly more so to protect the litter of puppies, so that was why he was locked inside when people arrived.

When asked why they kept a dog at their house they knew might not react well to strangers, Kearney said they were working with him to better his behaviour.

“We had him going to reactive dog classes and he was getting better every week.”

She said Eco was a $10,000 breeding dog and without him, they couldn’t continue. They had their female dog spayed. The attack also left them too traumatised to continue as breeders, she said.

“It is a terrible situation. We felt so sorry for the family ... It’s devastating for both parties. We had to put down our dog and he was like part of our family.”

Until the Rotorua Daily Post Weekend contacted her, she was not aware of what injuries Sienna had suffered and how many bites she sustained. She said it was her understanding the council was still investigating.

In its email to the Lewises, the council said it needed to weigh up a decision to prosecute and there was a “significant legal cost”. The email said one of the main reasons for prosecuting would be to have the dog destroyed, which had already happened. The email said it would instead issue fines.

Sienna Lewis' dog bite scars. Photo / Supplied

The Rotorua Daily Post Weekend questioned the council’s decision and within three hours, a council manager contacted James advising “new information” had come to light and it would take a fresh look at the investigation.

In response to Rotorua Daily Post Weekend questions, council regulatory services general manager Alison Curtis said the council now had more information it was not aware of when it made the initial decision not to prosecute.

She said the highest individual infringement notice it could issue was $300 and agreed it was “extremely low” and did not reflect the level of injury that occurred.

She said prosecution costs could range from $10,000 to $15,000.

“Please note that a decision to prosecute is not based on cost it is based on whether a prosecution is in the best interests of the public generally.”

Curtis said the last time the council took a prosecution was in 2018.

“We’re very sorry for all of the pain and trauma that Sienna and the Lewis family have been through and we’re taking their concerns very seriously. Further information has now come to light and we have decided to review the decision not to prosecute.”

Curtis said the council took its responsibilities under the Dog Control Act seriously.

“We’d like to take this opportunity to remind all dog owners to always keep their dogs under control – that means the dog/s need to be responding as if they are on a leash even if they’re not,” Curtis said in a statement.

“While accidents can happen, community safety is our priority, and our experienced Animal Services team will continue to work with our dog owner community to promote responsible dog ownership practices that further minimise the already low number of serious dog attacks that happen in our district.”