MELBOURNE, Australia - A kangaroo frightened by a man walking his dog attacked the pair, throwing the pet underwater and hitting the owner in the stomach with its back legs. The Australian, Chris Rickard, was in stable condition Monday after the attack, which ended when the 49-year-old struck the kangaroo in the throat. Rickard said he was walking his blue dog, Rocky, on Sunday morning when they surprised a sleeping kangaroo in Arthur's Creek northeast of Melbourne. The dog chased the animal into a pond, when the kangaroo turned and knocked the pet underwater. When Rickard tried to pull his dog free, the kangaroo turned on him, attacking with its back legs and tearing a deep cut into his stomach and across his face. "I thought I might take action to drag the dog out from under his grasp, but I didn't expect him to actually attack me," Rickard, 49, told The Herald Sun newspaper. "It was a shock at the start because it was a kangaroo, about 5 feet high, they don't go around killing people." "I was stuck having to hold on to the dog with both hands because it was half drowned and I couldn't really see anything because the kangaroo just attacked me." He added, "All I could do was just keep pushing for the bank and he was trying to push me under the water, so at that point I struck him in the throat and that made him back off a little bit. "I don't think I'll ever be able to watch kangaroo programs quite the same as I used to -- it might bring back a couple of bad memories." Kangaroos rarely attack people but will fight if they feel threatened. Dogs often chase kangaroos, which have been known to lead the pets into water and defend themselves there. Rickard said he ended the attack by hitting the kangaroo in the throat adding Rocky was "half-drowned" when he pulled him from the water. In Australia, kangaroos   _  .
are only seen in zoos frequently attack people and pets get along rather peacefully with people can be found swimming in ponds