Elvis has left the building

The town of Parkes, NSW has a population of 10,000. This week the annual Elvis convention attracted 8,000 'Elvi' from all over the country, many caught the special Elvis train from Sydney. So disappointed that we missed that one-all shook up in fact. Hard to imagine that for 5 days a town's population can almost double with sad worshippers of a long dead fat American.

Had a bit of trauma at the weekend. Woody the puppy, now 10 weeks old, was attacked by a large mastiff/pig dog on Saturday. We were sitting having a coffee outside a cafe, Woody fast asleep under the table, when a lady walked the beast past ( on a lead ). In an instant it had grabbed the sleeping puppy from under the chair and had him in its mouth. I have never seen an attack like it, totally unprovoked.

Good news is that he survived, although we still do not know how, as he was in the dog's jaws for almost a minute. He has a few sutures and is very sore ( the local vet surgery is sprinting distance from the cafe ). The person walking the dog was bitten on the hand, James managed to get puppy out of its jaws without being injured, only for it to grab the pup for a second time around the pelvis and proceed to play tug-of-war. It still makes me sick to think of it.
Ironically, there were 4 vets and a canine behaviourist sitting in a cafe discussing the Dangerous Dog's Act in Australia just as the incident occurred.

Onlookers called the police so it got rather messy. The owners paid the vet bill, but police have indicated their intention to pursue the matter. It could so easily have been a small baby in a pram. Fortunately the kids had stayed at home with Vanessa in order to make a scarecrow ( see slide show for pic of 'Mr. Chaseaway' ) so they did not witness the attack.

Meanwhile I am in the van with my foot up, having learned a valuable lesson. Never kick a 50Kg pig dog in the ribs when only wearing flip flops ( sorry, thongs). I have 2 swollen blue toes and am somewhat hobbly, hopefully I will not be summoned to work for a few days.