UNITED KINGDOM -- A vicious dog terrorised a city street party and savaged two people leaving them needing surgery.
The brown animal, described as a pit bull type, ran riot as terrified bystanders saw it lock its powerful jaws around the knee of a woman and tear into a man’s calf.
Rodney Hughes received minor injuries to his hand when he tried to get the crazed dog off his brother Karl and their neighbour Zoe Gielink, a mum-of-one.
Rodney, 35, told the ECHO: “It was terrifying, if I’m honest, this dog just came from out of nowhere and went to Zoe, then it went for Karl.
“We’d all just been outside enjoying ourselves and having a drink when it happened.
“It was lucky there were no children about – if it got hold of a kid, it wouldn’t have stood a chance.”
The chaos erupted in the early hours of Thursday morning on Bartlett Road, Wavertree – less than a minute’s walk from Ash Grove, where four-year-old John Paul Massey was mauled to death in November, 2009.
Mr Hughes received a cut to his hand as he tried to release the dog from his brother.
“I was trying to unclamp its jaws, but it was just so powerful. Other people were hitting it, but that just seemed to make it bite on even harder and shake its head, causing even more pain.
“Ambulances and police came and they were taken to the Royal University Hospital. There was a lot of blood, and the noise and screaming woke up everyone in the street.”
The ECHO understands Karl Hughes, 31, and Zoe Gielink, 33, have undergone at least two operations each since being admitted to hospital.
It is thought the dog is a stray that happened upon the road because it heard people outside – it managed to escape before police could catch it.
Bartlett Street is home to a number of families, many with babies and toddlers.
Nicola Dowling, 29, who has two primary school age children, said the events of Thursday morning were the talk of the street.
She told the ECHO: “I’ve lived here for two years, and it is the first time I’ve heard of an attack like this.
“It’s just frightening to think it could have been a child.
“If it can put two adults in hospital, what it could do to a little one doesn’t even bear thinking about.”
Merseyside police confirmed investigations were under way after three people were injured after being bitten by a dog on Bartlett Street, Wavertree, on Thursday.
A spokesman said: “Officers found officers found a 31-year-old man with a bite wound to his lower left leg, a 35-year-old man with a bite wound to his right hand and a 33-year-old woman with a bite wound to her right leg. All three people were taken to hospital for treatment.”
(Liverpool Echo - July 16, 2011)
