The man suffered puncture wounds and had to be sent to hospital, where he received 10 stitches.

The 24-year-old, a friend of the dog owner's son, was in the Kembangan family's home on 27 Oct when the dogs charged at him.

His mother and brother spoke to The New Paper on Sunday because they do not want the dogs to attack anyone else.

They are outraged that the dogs' owner, Madam Satpal Kaur, had told the press that her dogs had never hurt anyone.

Madam Satpal, 51, an IT business owner, had told The New Paper last week, following the attack on the terrier, that her dogs would never touch a human being.

She had also insisted in a report in The Straits Times that her dogs had never bitten anyone.

Did she know of the previous attack on her son's friend?

She said yesterday that she had been away at the time and was told only that her son's friend had been scratched.

'I didn't know what happened exactly because I was overseas from 17Oct to 16 Nov,' said Madam Kaur.

'My son only told me his friend was scratched by the dogs, and I thought there would (only) be scratch marks,' she said.

She could not get in touch with her youngest son to verify the matter as his handphone was switched off and he was not home yesterday.

The New Paper on Sunday was also unable to reach him for comment.

The victim, a childhood friend of Madam Kaur's youngest son, was visiting the family's bungalow at Lengkong Tiga when he was set upon.

His mother, who wanted to be known only as Madam Kaur, said: 'I saw red when I read her statement in the papers. All five of her dogs had attacked my son.

'The incident happened a month ago, and we are still trying to cool off and come to terms with what happened.

'But that doesn't mean it did not happen, that her dogs never attacked my son,' said the 51-year-old.

'I am very hurt and disappointed because what she said in the papers is a denial of what happened to my son.'

She claimed her son, an IT consultant, had puncture wounds and bites all over his body, especially on his arms.

'He had at least 10 stitches at the hospital and he was on medical leave for 2 1/2 weeks following the attack,' she said.

Madam Kaur said her family had not taken any action because her son did not want to pursue the matter.

Her son declined to be named or interviewed.

Madam Kaur said her youngest son had often visited Madam Satpal's home at Lengkong Tiga without incident.

Madam Kaur said her family had also previously been invited to Madam Satpal's home because of the friendship between the two men.

Madam Kaur's eldest son, a 28-year-old business advisor who wanted to be known only as Mr Singh, is also upset.

He said he learnt of the severity of the attack only when his brother returned home from hospital at 5am.

Said Mr Singh: 'My brother had called me that Saturday evening to say he got scratched by the dogs.

'But he made it sound like it was nothing serious. He told me not to worry and not to tell my mother.'

But Mr Singh had misgivings and stayed up all night until his brother came home before dawn.

Only then did he see for himself his brother's injuries.

'He came back with bandages all over his body, and he had to borrow a T-shirt and a pair of shorts from his friend because, apparently, his own T-shirt and his jeans had been too badly ripped by the dogs,' said Mr Singh.

'My brother said he had visited the house around 6pm and the maid had gone out to open the gate for him.

'But as he was walking along the driveway towards the house with the maid, the dogs suddenly charged at him and started to bite him,' he said.

Mr Singh, who said his brother is 1.83m tall, and weighs about 80kg, was overpowered by the dogs.

'The dogs are quite strong and big-sized and my brother lost his balance and fell to the ground.

'His arms were badly bitten because he used them to block hisface.'

He had to have four stitches on the inner side of his right forearm, another four on the same arm, and two more stitches on his right shoulder.

Mr Singh said his brother had told him that the maid kept screaming.

Madam Satpal's three sons had to come out to restrain the dogs and yank them away.

Her youngest son then took the victim to a nearby clinic, but the doctor there told him his injuries were too severe and recommended that he go to a hospital instead.

He was taken to the Singapore General Hospital's emergency department.

'My brother said he got to the hospital around 7pm and left at 11pm,' said Mr Singh.

The $90 hospital bill was paid by Madam Satpal Kaur's youngest son.

The bill was shown to The New Paper on Sunday.

Madam Kaur is upset that Madam Satpal Kaur's family had not informed her when her son had been sent to the hospital.

'My son had even messaged me around 8pm that he was going to settle his own dinner, but in actual fact he was waiting to have his X-ray taken,' said Madam Kaur.

'My elder son left me a note to inform me my younger son had been attacked by dogs and to let him sleep in,' she said.

'Imagine how a mother would feel. I immediately went to his bed to look at him.

'I was relieved to see his face was all right, but I was shocked when I took off the blanket and saw the bandages all over and the scratches on his shins.

'On his left arm, there were very clear, fist-sized bite marks, showing the size of the dog's mouth.'

The family also had to cancel a trip to Kuala Lumpur to attend a relative's wedding, despite having paid for the flight tickets.

'My son had difficulty moving about because of his injuries, and we didn't want to leave him alone,' said Madam Kaur.

She said that for two weeks after the attack, her son had to visit the doctor every alternate day for his wounds to be cleaned and dressed.

Madam Kaur is also troubled that her son's T-shirt and jeans had been thrown away by Madam Satpal'sson.

'I want to see how badly ripped the jeans are. I need to know what happened exactly. Otherwise, I keep visualising the attack.

'It is worse because I do not know what happened exactly,' she said.

'I am sure he would not have provoked the dogs in any way. My son is a calm person and he has visited their home before.'

Her husband, who works overseas, knows of the attack.

'My husband was very upset and wanted to see pictures of my son, but we haven't dared send him any,' said Madam Kaur.

She said her family had been under pressure from relatives and friends, who have urged them to take action following the incident.

'My son does not wish to pursue the matter because of his friendship, and we as his family have to respect that,' she said.

Madam Kaur said she was speaking up because she hopes there will not be a repeat of the incident.

'If I keep quiet and somebody gets attacked by the same dogs, I won't be able to live with myself.'

Mr Singh said: 'I don't like those dogs because they hurt my brother. At the same time, they are living creatures and I feel compassion for them.'

AVA RESPONDS

The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) said it learnt of the matter only after the recent attack on the jack russell.

After contacting the victim's brother, AVA was told that the victim did not want to pursue the matter.

Said Mr Madhavan Kannan, head of AVA's Centre for Animal Welfare and Control: 'Although the victim doesn't want to pursue the matter, the AVA will take the incident into consideration when investigating the case pertaining to the five rottweilers.'

The AVA said it had already informed the dogs' owners on Friday that two of the fivedogs would have to go, and to let the AVA know the particulars of the new owners.

The dogs' owners have up to seven days to comply.

The AVA is still investigating the case involving the jack russell.

This article was first published in The New Paper on 2 Dec 2007