Officials seize dog that domestic helper alleges attacked her twice
A dog that allegedly bit a domestic helper on Christmas Day in a Causeway Bay flat and then mauled her four days later was finally taken away yesterday by government dog catchers, after two earlier attempts by the government to seize the dog.
The mixed-breed dog, called Lucky, allegedly attacked domestic helper Lilibeth Tumaca on the first day of her job with her new employers - a day after arriving in the city.
Ms Tumaca, 31, did not report the incident to police, nor did she seek medical treatment.
But on December 29, as her female employer showed her how to feed the dog with her bare hands, she said it suddenly lunged at her, sinking its teeth into her left forearm and biting her fingers and right arm 'several times'.
However, her male employer denied last night the Christmas Day bite, but admitted Ms Tumaca had been bitten on December 29. He said his wife had taken her immediately to a private doctor, who treated the bite and said she did not need any sick leave. The doctor had described the bite as 'a minor thing'.
Ms Tumaca said that the following day she called 999 and was taken to Ruttonjee Hospital, where she was treated for dog bites. Police and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department were informed.
Ms Tumaca said she was dismissed by her employers on January 7. They said they sacked her because she had not returned to their flat.
Describing the December 29 incident, Ms Tumaca said: 'My boss ... told me, so the dog can be familiar with me, to feed it with my bare hands.
'So the first three or four times it was all right,' she told the Post yesterday. 'Then my boss told me to cut the pieces in more little bits. But maybe the dog was impatient and bit my arms.'
She said her employer told her not to move if the dog bit her. 'I was not moving but the dog kept on biting me. So I stood up and blood was pouring out from me,' she said.
Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department officers took the dog away for observation and further investigation of the case. One of the officers said they needed to scan the dog to check if it had a microchip.
Another officer said department personnel had gone to the flat on January 4 and 8 but both times came back empty-handed.
An AFCD spokeswoman said: 'We have received the report. We tried to contact many, many times the employer. Finally today we were able to contact the owner and we can take the dog away to the Animal Management Centre for observation and further investigation of the (dog biting) incident.'
A police spokeswoman said last night: 'Staff of the AFCD went to the flat at Hoi To Court and seized a dog in order to follow up the dog-bite case that happened in late December.' She said police had assisted.
