Dog's owner charged

Police have found the owner of a dog which bit an 80-year-old Oamaru woman on the arm in the central Oamaru area on Wednesday afternoon.

The 19-year-old Oamaru man has been summonsed under the Dog Control Act to appear in the Oamaru District Court, charged with owning a dog which attacked a person. The charge carries a maximum fine of $3000.

The owner was identified on Thursday after police publicised the attack and received phone calls from the public, Constable Ross Lory said yesterday.

The pit bull-cross dog had been impounded.

The attack took place when the woman was with her brother outside a cafe at the northern end of the Oamaru central business district, where dogs are banned.

The dog jumped up on the woman and Const Lory said the owner did not realise it had bitten her.

The woman was taken to Oamaru Hospital and treated for puncture wounds to her arm.

The dog was on a lead.