Dog protects kids by fighting off snake
FIRST ON 7: A Gold Coast family pet has been credited for protecting three young children from a deadly Eastern Brown snake.
One-year-old Staffordshire Terrier Jeff came close to death after being bitten on the nose.
On Wednesday morning he took on the second most venomous snake in the world, killing it in the vegetable garden but the Eastern Brown got a bite in too.
"He was just laying there and the snake was right beside him and I'm guessing he just got hit," the dog’s owner Michael Moskwa said.
A vet gave Jeff three shots of anti-venom, warning family it probably wouldn't work.
"We didn't think we would bring him home so we were telling the kids that he may not come home," Tammy Moskwa said.
"We felt really lucky, we feel like he's meant to be here to be our protector."
The veggie garden is where eight-year-old Mackenzie and his younger brothers Nate and Billy often play before breakfast.
Snake catcher Tony Harrison says the eastern brown snakes are one of the most deadly in the world, and are renowned for having a bad temper.
"One drop of venom has enough power to take out 16 healthy adults, so one bite can take out 100 people,” he said.
Mr Harrison has been catching snakes for 19 years. He says this past winter was his busiest ever. And right now across south east Queensland, snakes are on the move.
"As soon as the weather gets above 23 degrees that induces the females to ovulate and it's kind of like dogs on heat and the boys just go travelling looking for the female and that's why all the human encounters are happening at the moment," he said.
