Two dogs attack a mother and child near the Children’s Discovery Center in Kakaako. This happened Thursday morning as the family was waiting for the Center to open. The mom is recovering from her injuries and wants to raise awareness for other parents.

Brandy Bennett loves going to the Children’s Discovery Center with her 1 1/2-year-old daughter but on the day of the incident, she feared for her life. She said as far as she knows, she didn’t do anything that would’ve provoked the dogs to attack.

They were walking around the park just yards away from the Center. Bennett tells us that’s when two medium-sized, caramel-colored poi dogs rushed towards them.

“So my first instinct was to, of course, protect my daughter,” said Bennett, “I held her as high as I could and these two dogs just attacked both of my legs, like biting, scratching, trying to just drag me down to the floor.”

Bennett says several bystanders came to her rescue after she screamed. Good Samaritans managed to get the dogs away and called 911.

Bennett suffers from bruising, scratches, and a bite mark mostly in the back of her legs. After the attack Bennett says the dogs ran off to a nearby tent.

“Honestly, I’m so traumatized that I do not want this to happen to anyone else again,” said Bennett.

“Since I heard about the incident that happened in the park, I have really lost sleep over this,” said Loretta Yajima, the Children’s Discovery Center Board Chair.

She tells us she was horrified when she learned what happened. Yajima realizes the Center needs help to keep visitors safe.

“I’ve been asking over and over again for some way to get enforcement because it’s against the law for animals not to be leashed. Every dog needs to be leashed at the very least,” said Yajima. “We have very young children that come here and we work really really hard to have this center be a place of wonder and discovery and joy for them.”

We’re told Honolulu Police and the Hawaii Community Development Authority, which runs Kakaako Waterfront Park, responded and tried looking for the dogs but couldn’t find them or the owner.

The city has impounded property at Kakaako Gateway Park in March. With the city closed over the weekend, we could not get future enforcement dates until Monday.