Shaun Wainwright, 43, was walking his golden retriever Charlie with his seven-year-old son Alex near their home in Denton, Tameside, when they came across a group of fellow dog-walkers.
Two large dogs, which he believes were Staffordshire Bull terriers, suddenly launched a savage attack on Charlie.
The pup was bitten on the leg by one dog while the other animal locked its jaw around his head.
Shaun stepped in to drag the two dogs off and says he only narrowly prevented Charlie from being mauled to death.
He was also bitten on his hand and had to be treated at hospital.
“At first they were just sniffing and jumping around,” he said. “Then one became aggressive and jumped on top of my dog.
“Suddenly I had to try and prise this dog away to grab Charlie. One had locked his jaw around round his head. He was squealing.
“I grabbed them off and pulled Charlie up into the air. I thought I was going to be bringing a dead dog home. It was awful. I didn’t realise I’d been bitten myself until afterwards when I saw all this blood gushing out of my hand.”
Charlie was taken to the vets for treatment and is expected to make a full recovery.
But Shaun said his son Alex has also been left traumatised by the incident.
“Obviously I was very concerned about Alex as well,” he said. “He was in tears and has been left quite traumatised. I hope it doesn’t affect him too much.”
Shaun took details from some of the members of the group but has not been able to track down the owner.
The attack happened at around 5.45pm on Monday in Haughton Dale near Gibraltar Lane.
“I just hope somebody will have some information about who was responsible for these dogs and can come forward,” he said. “I just don’t want to see it happen to somebody else.”
(Manchester Evening News - Oct 11, 2012)
