And the 88-year-old has paid tribute to the neighbour who came to his rescue during the horrendous ordeal which he said has left him feeling like a prisoner in his own home.
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| Mr. Swinn with his beloved Prince |
Now serious concerns have been raised by neighbours and a town councillor that the dogs could attack again in an area used as a school run route.
Harry Swinn was walking his seven-year-old Sheltie ‘Prince’ along a footpath between Northfield and Highfield Avenue when two Bull Mastiff dogs jumped at him.
Fearing for his own dog’s life Harry cradled Prince in his arms, but in doing so became the target of the attack, which has left him with deep cuts and puncture wounds to his fingers, hands, and arm (pictured).
Close friend of 36 years and Harry’s live-in carer Maureen Lewis, 74, said: “I feel disgusted. It’s not just a bite, he’s been savaged.”
Harry, who is now receiving regular care at the Alfred Bean Hospital’s wound clinic, said: “I’m like a prisoner in my own house. It’s wrong that I have to stay in because of someone else.”
Harry has paid tribute to neighbour Maurice Hardy, 70, of Park Avenue who he claims saved his life after he pulled the dogs off and rushed him to hospital.
But Maurice told the Driffield Times & Post that his adrenaline just took over and he did what anyone else would have done.
“All I was thinking was I just need to get the dogs away from whatever it was. Your adrenaline is going, you don’t think of anything, you don’t even think about your own safety,” Maurice said.
“I just tried to help a friend in the end but everybody else says I saved his life,” he added.
Maurice said he was driving home when one of the Bull Mastiffs ran out into the road. When he got home he decided to go back to try and track down the dog’s owner.
But when he returned Harry was in such a bad way Maurice did not realise there was a person on the ground.
“I have known Harry for a very long time and at first I didn’t realise it was him,” Maurice said.
“I saw a bundle lying on the pavement and the dog attacking it. I went across to pull the dogs off and saw it was Harry. All I could see was blood,” he added.
Another neighbour arrived and took care of Prince, who sustained a cut to his back and bruising to his legs, while Maurice shooed the other two dogs down the road.
“It makes you wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t gone back,” Maurice added.
Hospital staff notified the police who have since interviewed the owner of the dogs who is due to be dealt with at court.
A Humberside Police spokeperson said: “The owner of the dogs, a 39-year-old woman came forward to be interviewed by police and as a result she has been reported for summons to court. Police enquiries are now completed.”
But with the dogs back at home there are now real concerns for the safety of other residents, especially young children who walk down the same road to get to school every day.
Driffield town councillor, and Harry’s neighbour, Steve Poessl said: “I find it totally disgusting that the dogs are still there.
“It’s worrying to think school kids are still walking around down there to go to school. It’s not the first time these dogs have got out, who’s to say they won’t get out again before the decision is made.”
(Driffield Today - March 22, 2012)
