United Kingdom: Owner runs off with his Pit Bull after it attacks horse pulling carriage and riders

UNITED KINGDOM -- Operators of the iconic horse and carriage rides at Cockington Village in Torquay are appealing for information after one of their horses was attacked by a Pit Bull while on a tour around the village last week.

Kirk Petrakis, who runs the K & H Cockington Carriages with his wife Hannah, took to Facebook to appeal for anyone with information about the attack to speak to the police.

K&H Cockington Carriages took a six-year lease on stables in the village and restarted the popular carriage rides through Cockington Court last year.

One of the company’s horses, Nugget, was pulling a carriage on a tour ride on Wednesday when he was attacked by a Staffordshire Pit Bull Terrier.

“A black Staffordshire Bull Terrier terrorized Nugget during a tour ride in Cockington Country Park,” Kirk said. “Nugget remained calm, as he is a professional horse, but could not defend himself had the dog latched on.

“This dog caused our passengers great distress and it was very aggressive and clearly out of control, the owner of this dog was nowhere in sight, eventually a man grabbed the dog saying it was not his.”

In a post on the K & H Cockington Carriages Facebook page, the operators made it clear that they have no problems with dogs, or Staffordshire Bull Terriers.

Kirk continued: “We want to make it clear this post is not against the breed as we have owned one ourselves, which was very gentle and submissive.

“Generally most dog's in Cockington are very well behaved, please share this post, so owners have a better understanding. The police have been informed and are taking it seriously.”

Police confirmed that they are investigating the incident, which took place on Wednesday afternoon.

A police spokesperson said: “We are investigating an incident where a dog was reported as being dangerously out of control in Cockington Village between 2.45pm and 3.15pm on Wednesday, August 23.

“A Staffordshire Bull terrier approached a horse and carriage. The dog was reported as behaving aggressively and had to be chased away from the horses on a number of occasions. The riders feared it would attack the horses.

PIT BULL OWNER FLED WITH VICIOUS DOG

“A man, who said he was looking after the dog, appeared and was struggling to restrain it. He did remove the animal from the scene [and fled].”

The horses are one of Torbay’s most famous tourist attractions, and the Cockington Carriage Company had been running in the picturesque village for more than 60 years before it closed in 2014 following the death of popular carriage driver Rick Passmore in 2013.

Anyone with information about this attack is asked to contact the police on 101 quoting crime reference CR071655-17 of August 23.

(Devon Live - August 29, 2017)