Angela O’Connor was hysterical after the two dogs plunged their teeth into four-year-old Rocky last Sunday as she took him on a walk around Blagdon Lake in North Somerset.
The four-minute savaging was stopped by a combination of one owner punching an animal to release its jaws and Mrs O’Connor’s mother Mary Serle, 66, hitting it with a lead.
Afterwards the owners of the bull terriers, a man and a woman, just walked away without saying a word.
Rocky was rushed to an emergency vet and has had to undergo extensive veterinary treatment for bite wounds and had a broken tooth removed under anaesthetic.
Mrs O’Connor, who works for Bristol City Council, says the dogs should have been muzzled and is disappointed that their owners failed to check that she and her dog were OK.
The 37-year-old from Bishop Sutton said: “I was walking Rocky by Blagdon Lake at around 4pm when a black Staffordshire bull terrier slipped its lead and attacked him.
“The man was hitting his dog trying to get it to release its grip but as he did so the other ginger Staffordshire bull terrier which he had on a lead also started attacking Rocky.
“I think it was a combination of him hitting the dog and my mum hitting it with the lead that made it stop. I was crying and hysterical. My dog and I were both covered in blood and they just walked off without saying a single word or checking that we were OK.
“If it had not been for mum using the lead to get that dog off Rocky could have been killed. Rocky was covered in bite marks and has had to have extensive treatment including having to go under an anesthetic to have a cracked tooth removed.
“I am just concerned they could do it again.”
Miss O’Connor reported the incident to police but was told there was nothing they could (or would) do. She then reported it to the dog wardens at both Bath & North East Somerset and Bristol City Council.
The dog attack is the third such incident reported in Somerset this week.
(Bristol Evening Post - March 16, 2012)
