Pregnant woman left with arm hanging 'by a thread' after attack by her OWN dog

UNITED KINGDOM -- A pregnant woman has been savaged by her own Staffordshire bull terrier-type dog which witnesses say left her arm 'hanging by a thread'.

The dog owner, believed to be in her 20s, sustained serious arm injuries after the daylight attack outside Whittington Barracks in Lichfield, Staffordshire at 4 pm on Thursday.

After hearing her terrified screams, cadets at the barracks, who were training outside, scaled the 12 foot high perimeter fence to rush to the woman's aid.

With the help of army medics, they tended to her wounds before an air ambulance rushed the badly injured victim to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

The pregnant woman was walking her pet near to
Whittington Army Barracks, when it attacked her in broad daylight

The dog, said to be a mastiff or Staffordshire bull terrier cross, was captured by police shortly after the attack on Nottingham Road near to a nursery, who were told to keep the children indoors.

The woman, who has not been named but lives near to the barracks, remains in hospital where she is being treated for horrific injuries to her arm.

Today local residents said they had complained about the animal to the council on a number of occasions over fears it was out of control.

One local resident, who did not want to be named, said: 'It is quite aggressive so there have been a number of complaints in the area about it being out of control and a danger to children as there's a nursery nearby.

'She was walking around the base perimeter when the dog just went for her, there didn't seem to be a trigger. It just snapped.

'The dog is a mastiff or Staffordshire bull terrier cross. It's huge. Like a small horse. There was lots of blood, it was just horrendous.'

While another witness added: 'It was horrible, the dog just went for the pregnant woman right in front of the barracks and across from a pre-school.



On hearing the woman's terrified screams, cadets from the
barracks scaled the fence to rush to her aid

'I'm told police had the children stay inside the school afterwards just in case. I think the dog was a staffie and I heard her neighbours have complained about it a few times. When the woman screamed the soldiers were the first on the scene.

'A couple of them even climbed the wall to help, which has some nasty looking razor wire on top of it. They must have saved her life. She is only a small lady and would not have stood a chance. The soldiers managed to scare the dog away. Otherwise it would have just torn her to shreds.'

Meanwhile a member of staff at Whittington Pre-School and Day Nursery, near to where the attack happened, said: 'We got a phone call telling us to keep the children inside until they had caught the dog. All we know is that a woman was injured. The children were more interested in the air ambulance to be honest.'

A spokeswoman from Staffordshire Police confirmed that officers and ambulance staff attended the scene on Thursday and that the dog was owned by the woman.

She also confirmed that casualty was taken to hospital by air ambulance.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman also added: 'Medics and cadets used their training and experience to aid a civilian outside the barracks and have been personally praised for their brave actions.'

(Daily Mail - Oct 18, 2014)