Karen Greaves, 31, her four-month-old daughter Amelia and son Dylan, five, were enjoying a picnic in a park with their Cavalier King Charles spaniel Molly when they were attacked by a nine-stone bull mastiff.
The crazed dog was with its female owner but not on a lead. Within seconds it had mauled 10-month-old Molly to death.
It then knocked Amelia’s buggy to the ground. Fearing it was about to attack her crying baby and her brother, Karen grabbed the mastiff and wrestled it to the ground.
A group of teenagers shepherded the children to safety as she and the owner pinned the dog to the ground until police arrived at Platt Fields park in Manchester.
But travel agent Karen received serious wounds to her hands and arms as she was repeatedly bitten.
She spent three days in hospital undergoing surgery and will be scarred for life. The dog was seized by police and taken away by vets. It is expected it will be destroyed.
At her home in Withington, Manchester, Karen said: “The dog seemed to just snap. I did everything I could to try to wrestle it from Molly but it had a look in its eyes that said it wasn’t going to stop for anything.
“Eventually it spat her out after ripping her apart and continued to go wild, knocking Amelia’s buggy to the ground.
“My children were screaming. I feared for them so I lay across the dog’s back and put my hands in its mouth and it basically ate my hands. They looked like they had been in a shredder and were covered in blood.
‘It was devastating to see your puppy killed in front of your eyes and my son has taken it very badly, it has traumatised him.’
(Express UK - August 23, 2011)
