WITNESSES - was anyone with you? Can you find people who saw it go down? Is your daughter old enough to describe what happened? Sweet Jesus what a scary freakin' thing that must have been for you all!!! Pardon me if I'm stepping over a line here, but consider a few counseling sessions for your daughter? She was attacked, and then saw her beloved, sweet family pet visciously destroy her attacker. She must be freaked out! Hopefully she doesn't fear Meatloaf and understands that he did what he did because it's his instinct to protect her, and he's not bad or mean.OMG, and poor you! I have no idea what laws might be for this situation in Australia, but I'll bet you can file a complaint for your daughter's attack and then find a lawyer easily who will fight for Meatloaf. I'm sorry for the loss of the healer, but it was really, really stupid of them to let a dog off leash that they obviously don't know well. Or worse, maybe they DID know that he wasn't good with kids...
It sounds like Meatloaf is a brave and loyal boy. PLEASE keep us posted on how this unfolds, and feel free to come and vent any time... Hugs to you from the USA...