Greyhound mauled by Staffordshire terrier

UNITED KINGDOM -- Corinne King’s dog, Strongbow, needed four hours of surgery following a vicious attack in Martens Grove Park, Bexleyheath, which also houses a children’s playground.

The 48-year-old of Martens Avenue, Bexleyheath said: "There are lots of children who use the park.

 

"I’m convinced that if it had been anything else, like a child, they would have been killed."

The incident happened on the morning of May 17 around 7am when Mrs King went with friends to give Strongbow, an ex racing dog, his walk.

The mother-of-two said: "While we were in the park, a woman came from the shop with a bottle of whiskey and a loaf of bread and came into the park.

"The Staffie, which was white, was on a lead but she let it off.  He ran towards my dog and then ran off.  Strongbow did the same thing - they were playing."

It was then that Mrs King says her dog, who was wearing a muzzle at the time, encountered some trouble.

She said: "I didn’t see what happened next but I could hear the woman who was with the Staffie screaming hysterically.

"I ran to Strongbow and found him lying on the floor with her dog attached to his leg. The amount of damage it was doing was awful- it was savage."

Mrs King, who works for a marketing company, says she then tried to get the Staffie off her dog.

She said: "I went hysterical.  I was grabbing his jaws and trying to get him off but nothing happened.
"It was only when another dog owner grabbed its bits that it stopped."

Her friend then grabbed the dog’s collar and appealed to its owner to put it back on its lead.

Mrs King said: "I don’t remember what happened afterwards but apparently the Staffie just sat there totally calm as if nothing had happened.

"It made no attempt to attack anyone else.

"My friend asked for her mobile number, she said the dog wasn’t hers and that she was just walking it, but she gave us a couple of numbers."

Mrs King then took Strongbow to the vets, where he spent four hours in surgery getting stitches to his inner leg and a bite on his back leg dressed.

She said: "If it was not for my friend saying I had to get him to the vets, he would have died through loss of blood.

"I’ve had to take a week off work to look after him as I can’t leave him on his own."

Mrs King tried to call the owners of the dog after the incident, but when she called them, she was told she had the wrong number.

She is now appealing to people to be on the lookout for the dog. She added: "It’s not every Staffie that is like this but I want people to be aware that these dogs do turn."

A Bexley Police spokeswoman said: "Details of the incident have been passed to the safer neighbourhood team for their information and to follow up."

(This is London - May 31, 2012)