UNITED KINGDOM -- AN OAP was going through vital skin grafting surgery yesterday after a large Japanese fighting dog mauled her in a Paisley street.
Terrified charity worker Frieda Barton, 68, suffered horrendous wounds when a growling Akita sank its teeth into her arm.
Shoppers said the animal wouldn’t let go and had a vice-like grip round her forearm.
The screaming Paisley widow, a great gran, was in agony and blood was streaming from her wounds.
Suddenly, the beast let go and Frieda was rushed by ambulance to the town’s Royal Alexandra Hospital.
Later she was transferred to Glasgow Royal Infirmary where her condition was described as stable.
The horrifying attack took place on Sunday as she walked to a local shop in Braehead Road, Glenburn, to buy her morning paper.
Ann Peters, who was visiting a friend in the area, said no one was sure what happened.
She added: “I don’t know who was with this Akita dog and it’s not clear why the animal went for Frieda.
“She has her own dog but it was left at home.
“Perhaps, the Akita smelled her dog from her clothes or she tried to pat the animal and that’s why it attacked.
“If the victim had been a child there would have been a death, I’m convinced of that.”
A resident said: “Everyone knows Frieda. She does so much fundraising work for Macmillan Cancer.
“She must have raised many thousands of pounds while employed at the former Grants whisky bottling plant in Glenburn, and since that closed down.
“She’s a lovely woman and a dog lover.”
He went on: “I’ve been asking around and no one seems to know who owns this Akita.
“People have told me Frieda was in terrible pain and no wonder.
“The animal’s teeth went deep in her arm. She was bleeding badly. She’s getting skin grafting surgery.
“I don’t know how long the brute held on and how it was coaxed to loosen it’s grip. But to Frieda it must have felt like ages.”
Medics attended to the victim’s injuries before she was rushed to the RAH.
Later a police spokesman said an incident involving a dog attack around 8am on Sunday had been reported to them.
He added: “Our inquiries are continuing.”
(Paisley Daily Express - Sept 1, 2011)
