Hero pet dog leaps in to save elderly woman savaged by rogue kangaroo

'If it wasn't for the dog she wouldn't be alive today,' said 65 year-old Mrs Neal's son, Darren, as his mother recovered yesterday from facial lacerations, gouges to her back and legs and heavy bruising.

'The kangaroo went crazy - it just laid into her with its feet and claws and would have kept going if the dog hadn't chased it off when she started screaming.'

Most species of kangaroo are not considered aggressive toward humans

Grandmother Mrs Neal had set out across her fields near the New South Wales outback town of Mudgee, 200 miles north west of Sydney, to check on her horses.

Mudgee, famous for its wine, honey and olives, is known to be a popular grazing area for kangaroos but Mrs Neal had never had any trouble with them before - they usually just hop away whenever she heads towards them.

This time, however, a large male - more than 6ft tall - decided it wasn't going to move and that Mrs Neal was an intruder.

'A lot of kangaroos who were in the paddock just moved away, but this particular one has just jumped up and launched straight at her,' said Darren.

'He hit her once and she just dropped and rolled but it kept at her.

'My dog heard her screaming and bolted along the field and chased him off.

'She'd probably be dead if the dog hadn't rushed to help her.

'My mum is only five and a half feet tall, so this kangaroo was almost as big as her.

'Her face has been ripped open, her hand has been mauled and she's got scratches all over her back, plus some concussion. Her whole body is sore.'

Mrs Neal was taken to hospital where she was treated for her wounds, kept under observation for a few hours and then allowed to return to her farm house.

'Many people in the town have been complaining about the kangaroo problem for years.

'They've been increasing in number and getting close to the urban areas but nothing has been done about it,' said Darren.

'What's worrying me now is that someone else might be mauled by one of these animals. The big males just don't seem to be afraid of humans.

'It will be terrible if a child is attacked before anything is done about these animals.

'There are so many around the area that you can't drive down the street without swerving to miss them.

'We've seen little kids running through the paddocks and if they run over one of those big ones they won't last two seconds.' Kangaroo attacks on humans are rare, but when there is a confrontation it is often the human who comes off worst.

In 1998 a 13-year-old boy searching for a lost ball in the rough on a golf course was attacked by a large male kangaroo which inflicted severe injuries, almost blinding the boy.