A Sad Tale....

[gness]

I rarely do sad tales but this made me very angry and shed a tear or two with my neighbour.

While I was on holiday last month (she's not been able to talk about this before today) she took her dog for a walk.....a little Pomeranian.
He dog was attacked by an off the lead ..Staff?....Pitbull?......which wouldn't let go despite her efforts...and she's a seventyish very small lady..
The owner arrived, made his dog drop the Pom.....or what was left of him....he was, in her words, shredded and torn open from being shaken.
He said sorry and ran off leaving her with the bloody body of her dog. She had enough wit to get his car number and later reported him to the police.
She carried her dog's body to her car and home....how awful that was for her.

Two weeks later, not having heard from the police she phoned them and was told they had spoken to the owner and case closed because she wasn't hurt....only her dog....it was a dog on dog incident and nothing to do with them.

But how could this young man have left her there, in a state, with her dog's body?!!

[kvalidir]

Oh that is absolutely awful Gness, poor lady :(

[Zacs-Master]

If he had a dog which could inflict so much damage then I think we can take a guess at the type of person he was.

Must have been extremely harrowing for her.

[Islay]

Oh god how awful, my own dog was attacked this weekend and whilst there was only a little damage I was terrified even though I waded in and stopped it. I feel for your neighbor x

[maggiebee]

I think all dogs should be kept on a lead when out walking. If it's not other, smaller, dogs being attacked it's sheep worrying. Owners must take responsibility. Do you think bringing back a dog licence would help or would it just be ignored?

[Zacs-Master]

I have a Sheep Dog / Border Collie. He's nearly 15 and he's always walked off lead (except where there are livestock and this is only for appearances sake) and he's never been the agressor in any attack.

[Islay]

Maggie we have the dog licence here in NI so it doesn't stop attacks

[gness]

The owner told the police his was a rescue dog as if that makes a difference...
My neighbour's dog was bred to show I believe....but had some sort of problems so the owner couldn't show....my neighbour took him in.....paid for treatment and has loved him just for being a dog dog...even if he didn't look perfect......

I don't know, Maggie...but I've just seen Islay's answer...x

[Islay]

My dogs are all rescues and have never attacked anyone

[maggiebee]

Not questioning you ZM, but there are a lot of aggressive dogs out there. My partner had a working springer spaniel that always walked off lead too.

[gness]

That's what I mean, Islay.....I don't have dogs but many friends have rescue dogs that are lovely....he can't use that as the excuse/reason if he was trying to...because it's not..x

[bhg481]

maggie - it's not a dog licence that's needed, it's a person-to-keep-a-dog licence. People need to prove that they can train and control a dog before they are allowed to keep one.

[Zacs-Master]

maggie. I'm not a fan of blanket statements in any walk of life. I felt obliged to point out the rather silly nature of yours.

[-SharonA-]

Cannot the RSPCA prosecute??
This is certainly a horrendous tale.

[gness]

Sharon....she's taken advice and is taking it further.....too upset to continue chatting to me so I'm not sure quite what is happening..x

[corylus]

What a b...***, how could anybody get away with that. Hope his dog does the same to him.

[Mamyalynne]

Sickening and the chap probably describes himself as a pet lover - he isn't and doesn't care for people much either.

[hereIam]

This is my constant dread, my own dog being attacked by a bigger viscous dog. I have tried to persuade the Government to do something about dog on dog attacks, which are all too frequent, but they will not. A little pom in my area had it's head ripped off by a muscular staffy a few years ago, the owner could not control it and she just kicked the little dog's head into the gutter afterwards. This haunts me. It is absolutely disgusting that nothing was done about this dog who WILL attack again and my heart bleeds for the poor lady who had to witness it and cope with it all. I am so glad she is taking it further and hope she succeeds.

[gness]

What his dog did was awful.....but I just can't understand him clearing off with his dog and driving away leaving her like that......

[NoMercy]

That's absolutely terrible. Next time it could be a tiny baby or small child and then the police will have to face the backlash from their inaction.

Poor, poor woman having to watch her little friend die like that. The horror will never leave her.

[anthro-nerd]

Right, tell her to call the police again and tell them the dog was out of control and she was terrified of it and she felt like she was in danger. Tell her to tell the police she felt like she would have been bitten had she intervened. That way the police HAVE TO take notice whether or not she was bitten or not. I have had this same issue, they weren't interested in the dog on dog attack, but they were interested in me feeling scared of being bitten had I intervened. (I had bruises over my legs from the attack too, but I wasn't bitten) but even without the bruises they have to take note if she felt threatened of being bitten. She can also fill in a victim personal statement form about how the ordeal has affected her emotionally.