Nayna Mangalore’s pet Labrador Casper had to have emergency treatment after the Alsatian clamped its jaws down around his neck in the attack last Tuesday morning in Wanstead Flats.
And husband Prakash Shetty, 32, of Leytonstone, had to visit A&E at Whipps Cross University Hospital after plunging his hand into the Alsatian’s jaws to free his beloved 10-year-old pooch, suffering several bite wounds.
Mrs Mangalore, 29, said: “It could have been really dreadful. I’m really relieved it’s not worse.
“My husband is tall and stocky so he could manage but otherwise someone could have died.”
Mr Shetty had been playing fetch with Casper when the Alsatian lunged for the dog at about 5.35am.
The dog’s owner, an Asian man in his early 40s with a beard and black and grey hair, made no effort to intervene and allegedly pleaded with Mr Shetty not to go to the police, saying they would take the dog away from him again.
Mrs Mangalore said: “Dogs are only for people who have the time and effort to put into training the dog. Attacks are happening all the time, almost daily. But it’s because of irresponsible owners.”
The incident comes after numerous others, including a nine-year-old boy who had his arm bitten by a Staffordshire bull terrier in the grounds of Thorpe Coombe Hospital in Forest Road, Walthamstow, last month.
A Staff also mauled a smaller dog in Salop Road, Walthamstow, on March 26, while a six-year-old girl had part of her ear ripped off by another Staff in Pole Hill, Chingford, in January 2012.
Waltham Forest Council is trying to tackle the problem with a proposed increase in the number of parks where canines would be banned or kept on a leash at all times.
But campaign group Waltham Forest 4 Dogs is against the proposal, instead urging police and the council to take dog on dog attacks more seriously and to tackle irresponsible owners.
Chair Mark Fisher said: “Dog on dog attacks are unacceptable. My major concern is that the police are not interested in them. They’ll only ever get involved if a human’s injured.
“That needs to change. Dog on human attacks aren’t recorded properly either – there’s no differentiation between public spaces and attacks at home.
“We need a more informed and intelligent approach than the council’s proposals. They don’t deal with bad dog owners at all. They are the problem.”
(Guardian Series UK - June 12, 2013)
