Gas engineer tells of Bradford dog attack ordeal

UNITED KINGDOM -- A workman suffered horrific injuries to his hand and arm when he was attacked by a dog outside a home in Bradford.

Mick Chyriwsky’s thumb was bitten to the bone and his left forearm received numerous puncture wounds when he was set upon by a Japanese Akita yesterday at about 2pm.

The self-employed 55-year-old said doctors at Bradford Royal Infirmary were due to decide today if his thumb needed operating on.

“The bite has gone right down to the bone all the way round my thumb,” said Mr Chyriwsky. “My arm is a mess. There are punctures marks all the way round.”

Mr Chyriwsky, who runs MNC Plumbing & Heating, had gone to a rented property on Sheridan Street, Bowling, to service a boiler. He had been to the same property about a year earlier and said there was no dog there then.

Of yesterday’s visit, he said: “I knocked on the door and a little toddler let this dog out and it went for me. It had my thumb and then got my arm.”

Fortunately, the dog let go of Mr Chyriwsky’s arm long enough for him to grab the animal’s head and turn it away.

He added: “I didn’t have time to be scared – instinct took over. I was worried about the little kid.”

Allan Brewster, the landlord of the property, said he rented it out to a young woman. He added that tenants were not allowed pets at his properties.

He said: “Mick has worked for me for 20-odd years. The tenant had a letter saying the gas engineer was calling this week.

“The tenant told me that before she could get to the door her three-year-old had opened the door to Mick and the dog had attacked.”

Mr Brewster said he had served the woman with a two-week eviction notice to leave the property, and added: “She said the dog had been taken to the PDSA and been destroyed.”

Mr Chyriwsky and Mr Brewster said they were both disgusted with the police, who said there was nothing they could do as the attack happened on private land.

“It is a civil matter,” said a police spokesman.

Mr Chyriwsky, whose partner Lisa is currently in hospital after breaking her hip on holiday, said: “I am disgusted with the police. If I had gone over 30mph to get to hospital I’m sure they would have got me.”

(Bradford Telegraph and Argus - Sept 21, 2013)