Doncaster woman’s dog attack fears

UNITED KINGDOM -- A Doncaster woman, whose pet was savaged by another dog, says she is fearful that the animal could attack a child next time.

Brenda Hudson was walking her eight-year-old Jack Russell, Penny, near to the Co-Op in Scawthorpe, when a dog lying on the pavement nearby charged at them.

The dog, who was not wearing a collar and did not seem to belong to anyone, started to attack Penny, biting her on the leg.
 

Mrs Hudson, of Stonehill Rise, Scawthorpe, says she began screaming ‘get off my dog’, and even though there were people watching the incident take place nearby, no-one came to her assistance.

“It was terrifying, and I think I just froze,” said the 67-year-old.

She continued: “I keep thinking why didn’t I pull the dog off her, but in the moment I didn’t really know what to do. I’ve seen the dog, I think it’s an Akita breed, roaming the streets before and I walked a different way to where I normally go to avoid it but it still hurt Penny.”

Following the incident, which took place on May 16, Mrs Hudson contacted South Yorkshire police, who she says told her that the incident is not something that they would investigate because the dog did not attack a human being.

Penny required stitches and Mrs Hudson was left with an £80 vets bill as a result.

A South Yorkshire police spokesman told The Star: “Because the dog does not appear to have an owner we were unable to contact them to speak to them about the incident. But anyone with information about the incident, or the dog’s owners should call us on 101, quoting incident number 321 of May 16.”

Under the law, if a dog attacks another person’s pet and the dog is deemed dangerous they could be left with a £1,000 fine and an order from Magistrates’ to have the dog destroyed if they deem it poses a serious risk to the public. However, because Mrs Hudson did not know whether the dog was a stray or if it has an owner, police have been unable to take action against the animal.

She said: “I just want something done about it. That dog is very dangerous, I’m afraid to walk my dog by myself now because of it. And who knows what could happen next time, it could be a person, or worse a child, if something is not done to stop it. It was my brother’s dog, and after he died I promised to look after her, and I feel like I’ve let him down because of what’s happened.”

(The Star UK - May 25, 2015)