Scott Pepper can’t stop reliving the moment his family’s pet cavoodle Lola was fatally mauled by a bigger dog.
“Every time I close my eyes, I just see the attack,” Pepper told 7NEWS.
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“I replay it over and over again, wondering what I could have done different.
“But there was nothing more I could have done. I was actually worried I was next (to be attacked).”
Pepper had been walking five-year-old Lola along their normal route in Biggera Waters on the Gold Coast on Monday.
When they passed a row of wheelie bins on a kerb, “this dog just pounced on Lola”, he said.
“Sunk the teeth into her. I knew Lola was in trouble,” Pepper said.
He picked up a bin to fight off the dog, as a tradie driving past stopped to help him.
They freed Lola from the dog, but the damage was done.
She underwent three-and-a-half hours of surgery and came out alive, but suffered a fatal cardiac arrest hours later.
“She couldn’t take it anymore and she passed away,” Pepper’s daughter Lacey said.
“She had sustained too many injuries and her body had passed because she was in too much shock.
“Her little body couldn’t handle what this dog has done.”
The family wants justice for Lola.
The City of Gold Coast is investigating the incident, but the American pit bull that attacked Lola has not been seized, pending the investigation.
The council said it was unable to comment further on the matter amid the investigation.
“What we can’t comprehend is why our dog’s not here and not breathing, but this dog’s still here,” Lacey said.
“She was our world. She was our best friend. We want justice.”
Mayor Tom Tate said on Wednesday his council was reviewing how much owners of aggressive dogs are fined ahead of the next budget, having last year increased the fine to $774.