Mr Loader said two big loose dogs mounted a vicious attack on his pet, Sophie, as they walked on a footpath through a field.
He faces vet bills of thousands of pounds as the five-year-old dog’s life hung in the balance this week. And he has vowed to fight to get the law changed after hearing that the owners of the attacking dogs would not be prosecuted.
He claims the law is flawed by not being effective in dog-on-dog attacks.
Mr Loader needed hospital treatment at Yeovil after Sophie bit his arm in terror during the attack.
He went to the police to report the incident. He said: “I have to be honest and say my injury was not caused by those two dogs - I couldn’t live with myself if I lied about it. But it means there will be no police action against those owners.”
He said the loose dogs tore across the field moments after he took Sophie for a walk near his Rick Hayes home on Friday evening.
He said: “These dogs are Turkish sheep dogs (aka Anatolian Shepherd) - they are capable of killing wolves.
“One went for Sophie and the other cut off her escape. Sophie was screaming in terror and I couldn’t get this great big dog off.
“I was desperate - I knew that dog was going to kill her. Luckily a man in the field heard all the terrible noise and came running over to help and he tried to hit the dog with a bit of wood.
“Then the woman who owns these dogs came over. Sophie managed to run back towards my daughter but collapsed at our gate.”
A vet from Southill Veterinary Group in Wincanton carried out emergency treatment but Sophie was later moved following two operations to Bristol for intensive care treatment.
Mr Loader said: “The Wincanton vet was brilliant and saved Sophie’s life but it’s been touch and go. She had terrible bite wounds and internal damage.”
Mr Loader is contacting his MP, David Heath, in a bid to get the law changed.
He said: “The legislation isn’t good enough. I want to stop this happening to someone else.”
He also wants the dogs’ owners, who also live in Rick Hayes, to pay the vet bills.
Mr Loader, a tenant with Yarlington Housing Group, has asked the organisation to take whatever action it can against the dogs’ owners.
He said: “My own injury means nothing to me - Sophie didn’t know what she was doing she was in so much pain and fear. I’d give my arm just to have her back again. She’s a little bit better but she’s not out of danger yet. It’s going to be a very long recovery.”
A spokeswoman for Yarlington Housing Group said: “Yarlington understands how traumatic this incident has been for the owner of the dog, and we do all we can to ensure that our tenants act responsibly in respect of their pets.
“We are arranging to visit the tenants whose dogs were allegedly involved in this incident to get reassurance that they are complying with our pet policy. We take pet care very seriously, and have been awarded the RSPCA Community Animal Welfare Bronze Award in recognition of our standards.”
(This is Somerset - July 19, 2013)
