SAVAGE PET KANGAROO

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21281, 7 September 1932, Page 6

SAVAGE PET KANGAROO

MAULS A POLICEMAN REVOLVER ACCIDENT SEQUEL RESCUE OF WOUNDED BOY While a small boy lay unconscious on the back lawn of a house at Randwick, Sydney, on August 31, with a shocking bullet wound in his head, a policeman and a savage kangaroo engaged in a desperate struggle over his body. The boy, John Lester Enemy, aged eight, was ■' admitted to hospital in a dangerous condition. His rescuer, Sergeant Saunders, of the Darlinghurst police, was frightfully mauled by the animal. His chest and arms were gashed and torn, and his clothing was ripped to pieces. He was placed under medical treatment for his wounds. Three small boys, Reginald McKern, Matthew Carmody, aged 12, and John Enemy, were playing in the backyard of Carmody's home. They were boasting about their toys. " I've got daddy's gun, too," said Carmody, and lie ran inside -his home, clambered up on top of the wardrobe and grasped his father's old police service revolver. His mother was not aware that the weapon was secreted there. The children gathered round Carmody in an admiring group and exam.ned the weapon. Suddenly there was an explosion. John Enemy screamed and fell to the ground. The other two children fled. Kangaroo Attacks Policeman Sergeant Saunders, who lives next door, Vtas digging in his garden when he heard the shot. He'/thought at first it was a gas explosion. He looked over the fence and saw the wounded boy lying bleeding on the ground. The policeman scrambled over the fence and ran to the boy's side. He was bending down over the child when he was struck a violent blow on his /body, and flung backwards to the lawn. He had been attacked by the Carmodys' pet, an " old man " kangaroo. The animal, which is usually docile, sprang upon the policeman as he was scrambling to his feet and clav/ed wildly at him. Sergeant Saunders vainly attempted to beat the animal off. He closed with it, punched it savagely, and kicked it fiercely. Again and again the kangaroo attacked him. It scratched his arms, caught his shirt in its sharp claws, and tore it from his body. Although the sergeant had been seriously gashed and was bleeding profusely from his wounds, the kangaroo had been badly battered, and moved away from the man. Once again the sergeant bent down to lift up the unconscious child. There was a piercing scream behind him. He turned and saw that the 'kangaroo was attacking one of the children

Thfe Animal Overpowered The policeman realised then that he would not be able to move the wounded child until the infuriated kangaroo had been; quietened. Accordingly, he sprang upon the animal, and bore it down, grasping it tightly around the throat. Gradually its struggles ceased. In the meantime, Sergeant Saunders' son had arrived. He tore down the clothes line, and the two men bound the animal tightly, and lashed it to a post. The injured boy was carried to an ambulance and was taken to a hospital. A doctor was called, and the policeman was treated for his injuries. The kangaroo was brought to Sydney from Moree several years ago. Its new environment apparently suited it, for it developed amazingly, and now is more than six feet "in height. Several months ago it escaped and caused astonishment at Coogee by bounding down the main thoroughfare with many men in pursuit. On another 'occasion it badly mauled a neighbour of the Carmodys.