The breeder of one of two rottweilers that viciously mauled their owner has hit back at online attacks accusing her of breeding dangerous dogs.
Nikita Piil, 31, was due to undergo surgery to save her arm this week after her pet dogs, Bronx and Harlem, turned on her outside her Perth home on Saturday afternoon.
She filled her Facebook profile with photos of her dogs and even re-shared content from the breeder where she bought Harlem expressing her love for the rottweiler breed.
“Want them all … always breeding the most beautiful babies,” she wrote aside a video of a newborn litter of rottweilers posted in June.
The breeder of the dog that was not killed by police spoke to The West Australian on the condition of anonymity on Tuesday to respond to the claims she was breeding an “aggressive bloodline”.
“We don’t breed dogs for fighting. We don’t breed dogs for security. We mainly breed them for show and to place them in family units,” she said.
She said she believes what most likely happened is that Ms Piil came across her dogs already locked in a fight and tried to separate them before they turned on her.
“She’s just a small lady and with two large dogs, it’s virtually impossible to separate them when they are that size,“ the breeder said.
Following the attack, people flooded to Ms Piil’s social media profile, with many choosing to leave their opinions in the comments below the breeder’s post.
“Seems like you’re in need of re-evaluating your breeding line,” one person wrote.
“You’re also clearly breeding overly aggressive and unpredictable bloodlines.”
Another person said: “All I am saying is a small number of dog breeds need to be restricted in Australia. This is another tragedy and there will be many more.
Others came to the defence of the breeder, with some saying they had purchased their beloved rottweiler from the business and described them as the most “loyal, gentle” dog they had ever owned.
Federal MP Bill Shorten joined calls to ban the sale of the dangerous dog breed on Tuesday after a history of attacks during his time in office.
“A few breeds are essentially sharks on legs and you should ban some of these breeds,” he told Today on Tuesday.
“It’s been proven that owners can’t control all of them.”
There has been at least one fatal rottweiler attack in NSW this year after a five-week-old baby suffered serious head injuries on the NSW south coast in February.
How the attack unfolded
Piil was attacked by her dogs, Bronx and Harlem, at her Perth home on Pitta Corner in Success about 4.35pm on Saturday afternoon.
She suffered serious injuries to her arms and leg and remains in a serious condition at the Royal Perth Hospital.
Ms Piil’s painful screams echoed through the street, alerting those nearby to the nightmare that was unfolding.
Despite neighbours attempting to stop the brutal attack, the dogs continued to maul the woman until police intervened.
Neighbour Bryn Spencer said he and another neighbour heard Ms Piil’s screams for about 10 minutes before they intervened.
He said they attempted to stop the attack but couldn’t access her property without endangering themselves.
“I was contemplating jumping the fence and getting in there to rescue her but obviously there were two rottweilers in there … I would have been ripped apart,” he told the ABC.
“All I could really do was watch this girl get mauled apart while I was smacking the fence with a bat … while (another neighbour) was hosing the dog.”
Speaking to 7News, Mr Spencer said he pleaded with police to shoot the dog.
“I said you need to get your gun out and shoot this dog, it’s going to kill her,” he said.
While he wasn’t able to stop the attack, he conceded that the did “everything I possibly could”.
“The other rottweiler was jumping up the fence at me,” he said.
“I kept screaming at it and smacking the fence.”
Officers attempted to taser one dog before they were forced to shoot it, leaving it in a significant condition.
The dogs were later seized by the City of Cockburn, with the injured dog euthanised due to his injuries.
