Linda Hider (66) was walking her pet dog Ellie, also a [Staffordshire], in a grassed area behind The Paddocks close to her home in Sunnymead, Werrington, Peterborough when the attack happened.
Police have said they are investigating the incident, which happened at 9.30am on Saturday.
The grandmother-of-11 said her “horrific” ordeal began when the three loose [pit bulls] come out of bushes and ran straight at Ellie.
She said: “You know when you see these attacks on the television when a lion goes in to pull the animal down, that’s what they were doing to her. It was absolutely horrific.”
Mrs Hider was injured as she tried to defend Ellie from the attackers and was left needing eight stitches to her left hand, sutures to her left thumb and a fractured middle finger on her right hand.
She said: “I knew if I had not done something they would have kept on attacking. She would have had such horrific injuries she would have been put down.”
Mrs Hider is not sure how long she struggled against the animals but after a while the three dogs backed off.
Two of the dogs left but the most aggressive of them lingered and Mrs Hider was frightened it would launch another attack.
The pensioner finally managed to make it leave by shouting and by swinging her dog lead as a threat.
The attack left Ellie needing stitches in her shoulders and she still has open wounds on her chest, scratches to her sides, a swollen jaw, a lump missing from one of her ears and bloodshot eyes.
Mrs Hider said the owners of the dogs should have been more responsible than to let them get loose.
She said: “I’m angry with the owners because it should not have happened. One dog is a responsibility, having three is three times the responsibility.”
Her husband Robert (69) added: “We love Staffordshire bull terriers. They are a beautiful, beautiful dog. They are so loving but they have got to be controlled. They have got to be secure.
“It’s like any dog when they get into a pack, instinct takes over and they go back to the wild.
“The breed itself is lovely. I’m sure it’s the people who own them. We have had Staffordshire bull terriers for nearly 20 years and we have never, never had any problems whatsoever.”
A Cambridgeshire police spokesman said dog attacks of this severity are “not common”.
He added: “This would have been a scary and painful ordeal for the victim and her dog and we are keen to track down the dogs and their owner.
“The matter is being treated very seriously and we are taking steps to identify the dogs and the owner.”
Anyone with details should call police on 101.
(Peterborough Today - Jan 18, 2012)
