Pet owner confronts man whose dog mauled her Yorkshire Terrier to death in Thornton Heath park

UNITED KINGDOM -- THE owner of a Yorkshire Terrier mauled to death by a dog in a Thornton Heath park has taken to social media to urge the police to take action.

Raquel Miravalles Quesada was walking through Thornton Heath Recreation Ground at 11.30am last Friday when her dog Dylan was attacked by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

 

The animal bit then shook Dylan during a sustained attack.

Miss Quesada says she pleaded for the man's help but he refused, leaving her to try and perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on her beloved dog, who sadly died.

The incident was reported to the police but the man was in the park with his two dogs, including the one that attacked Dylan, when Miss Quesada and her boyfriend, Javier Rodriguez, returned on Sunday.

 

Mr Rodriguez called the police again and then confronted the man as he tried to leave, following him down the street while recording him on his mobile phone.

The man refused to accept that he had done anything wrong and then threatened Mr Rodriguez.

Miss Quesada posted the photographs on her Facebook page warning people to stay away from the park.

She said: "The dog attacked Dylan without any warning. He jumped on my dog - a 4kg Yorkshire Terrier - who just laid down and showed him his submission.  It didn't care. He bit him one time, shaking Dylan in the air for a couple of minutes.

"When he dropped him he was still alive for ten minutes but the dog's owner and his companion refused to help me when I asked if they could call the emergency number while I was doing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."

Miss Quesada had owned Dylan for around a year and walked him in the recreation ground every day.

She had seen the dog owner and his friends drinking alcohol in the park on a number of mornings.

"These guys are always drinking in the early morning in the park," she said.

"We want to warn everyone because this is going to happen again. When the attack happened he couldn't control the dogs. We really think that these guys who have been drinking since the morning cannot control two dangerous dogs.

"I went back to the park with my boyfriend on Sunday and found them drinking and with the dogs off the leash. We called the police but they left again. We followed them and recorded a video so the authorities can identify them."

The couple reported Dylan's death to the police but were told it was a civil, rather than criminal, matter.

The Advertiser has approached the Metropolitan Police for a comment.

(Croydon Advertiser  - ‎May 26, 2015‎)