UNITED KINGDOM -- A dog owner has spoken of the horror of seeing her beloved eight-year-old collie mauled and left dying in front of her eyes.
Nichola Cowell was out for what should have been a lovely Sunday stroll along the River Brue when her collie Boris was set upon by a St Bernard.
Her dog was left with injuries so severe he was unable to walk and later had to be destroyed.
Heartbroken Nichola from Glastonbury has spoken out to warn other dog owners to be on the look out and urge people to muzzle large dogs and keep them on a leash.
“We had parked at the bottom of Roman Way and I was walking Boris and my four-year-old Springer spaniel Bilbo along the river,” she said.
“We had reached about halfway along to the weir and saw a gentleman in the distance with his St Bernard. All three dogs were off the lead.
“As we got up closer the St Bernard came over and started to say hello.
“Dogs will be dogs and they began fighting. But the St Bernard became very aggressive. Suddenly she was on top of my dog and biting my dog. I could hear Boris making a ‘screaming’ noise.”
Neither owner had any means to separate the pair, but when the St Bernard finally left Boris alone, the collie could not stand.
Nichola said: “His legs had just gone out from under him, I was so upset and crying. I couldn’t pick him up, I couldn’t carry him back to the car.”
The other dog owner left to find a sheet or blanket, returning and helping Nichola to lift Boris onto the blanket.
By which time Nichola’s partner arrived and they took their dog to the vet.
Despite treatment, X-rays showed that the collie’s spinal chord had been snapped and he was put to sleep the following day.
“I returned to the scene the following day – before Boris was put down – and put up a warning note with RIP Boris,” said Nichola.
“I phoned the police but was told that as neither dog was on a lead there is nothing that could be done, other than contacting the dog warden.”
However, Nichola is upset that such a dog was not on a leash in the first place.
“The dog owner told me he’d only had the St Bernard for two months and it had been rehomed from a rescue centre,” she said.
“He went away before I could get his details so I don’t know who he is. But I think if you’ve only had a dog for a short time, and don’t know its full history – you should have it on a lead.”
(Central Somerset Gazette - March 15, 2012)
