Mauled by 5 pit bulls

A PALMERSTON man has spent nearly a week in hospital after being mauled by a pack of five pit bulls.

Adrian Micairan, 19, has bites to his legs and arms and may need plastic surgery after they savaged part of his face.

He told the Northern Territory News  he was attacked as he and a mate walked past a construction site where there were  pit bulls behind a fence, in Gray, last Wednesday at about 7pm.

''We heard the fence rattling,'' he said. ''I heard running -- I heard barking, howling.''

Mr Micairan said he turned around to see the dogs had broken free -- and then they lunged straight for him.

''I remember feeling their teeth in my arms and my legs -- I was terrified, but I kept running,'' he said.