There are calls for American Staffordshire terriers to be banned in Australia after two people were mauled in separate incidents in one day.
An American staffie attacked another dog and its owner in Sydney's west on the weekend.
It caused life-threatening wounds to the groodle, according to 9News, and left Tina with injuries to her left hand and arms.
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Damien Aggio said the attack was completely random and happened while he and Tina were walking their groodle called Peaches through Pemuluuy.
He added that the staffie managed to escape from its harness and raced over to them.
He's told nine.com.au: "I heard the owner yelling, 'watch out' and I saw this big dog running across the road straight towards us.
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"It all happened so quick. I tried to pick up our dog, but it was too late. The big dog had latched onto her by then. I was trying to wrestle it off. I was kicking and punching and I had my thumbs in its eyeballs. But it all made no difference."
It eventually took a whopping five people to get the American staffie off Peaches and back in its harness.
The incident wasn't the only one involving the breed on the same day, as a five-week-old baby boy was mauled and killed on the NSW Central Coast.
Emergency services were called to the Kariong home after the six-year-old dog attacked the baby.
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The dog had already been reported a month earlier for bad behaviour and on this occasion it managed to get into the backyard of another person's home. The baby had only just returned from hospital after being born.
The registered and desexed dog was taken from the property and has since been euthanised.
A spokesperson for Central Coast Council told 7NEWS.com.au: "Rangers have taken the dog to a vet and it has been euthanised. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this terrible time. The incident remains a police investigation.
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"The dog had a previous attack registered against it last month, which occurred in its own back yard. The family was undertaking a breed and temperament assessment at the request of council."
As a result of these two incidents, which happened on the same day, there is a campaign for this breed to be banned.
Damien said there can't be any more avoidable deaths.
"They definitely should be banned," he said. "They are dangerous dog breeds bred to kill, not protect. If we didn't have the help that we did our dog would be dead.
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"The owner had zero control. We were totally helpless. It took 350kg of people to take back control. We were very, very, lucky. It was five minutes of absolute mayhem."
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Australia