Woman left with £3,000 bill after her dog is attacked

UNITED KINGDOM -- A woman whose pet dog was savaged by another, leaving her with a £3,000 vet's bill, has called for a change to the law.

Debbie Kemp, 44, is angry the owner of the animal that attacked hers has faced no penalty, even though owners of dogs that injure humans can be sent to prison for up to two years.

A Staffordshire bull terrier attacked Debbie's terrier-cross Bonnie at a yard where she keeps her horses.

Debbie said: "I was at the back of my car getting something out and Bonnie was with me. I saw the dog running at us and it just went for Bonnie.

"I was crying and screaming to get the dog off her.

"I remember at least four people including myself trying to get the dog off. All I saw was blood."

Debbie rushed Bonnie, who had suffered life-threatening injuries, to a vet's in Gossops Green.

She said: "The skin on Bonnie's neck was hanging from her body. The vet said they wouldn't be able to do anything."

Bonnie was stabilised, however, and then taken to a specialist vet's to be operated on.

She was pulled back from the brink after a four-hour operation and needed more than 40 stitches to her neck, back and ears.

Bonnie is still recovering from the injuries she suffered in the attack, which took place on June 14.

"The vets said that Bonnie's fatty neck saved her and she was still wagging her tail even after what happened," Debbie added.

Debbie gave a statement to police who went to assess the Staffordshire bull terrier, but officers said they would not take the matter further as the animal was friendly towards humans.

Debbie has contacted solicitors in an effort to recover the costs of saving her dog's life.

Most of all, though, she wants to see a change to the law to bring harsher penalties for the owners of dogs that carry out attacks on other dogs.

She said: "Unless people speak up about dog-on-dog attacks the law won't change.

"For me and everyone who saw it – including children – we will have to live with that.

"If it were a dog-on-human attack, the dog would have been taken away and the chances are it would have been destroyed.

"The law needs to change. How many more dogs need to be badly injured before anything is done?"

(thisissussex.co.uk - Aug 20 2013)