Wine dog fatally mauled
A dog that featured in a book about vineyard dogs has been fatally mauled outside a vet clinic in Marlborough.
Paula Hill and her labrador, Phoebe, were leaving Vets On Alabama, in Blenheim, last week when another dog in the car park broke free from its owner and lunged at Phoebe.
The dog went ‘‘straight for her throat’’, and bit Phoebe’s ear and face, Hill said.
The other pet owner let go of his second, smaller dog, so he could try to stop the attack, but that canine then latched onto Phoebe’s back, Hill said.
‘‘Nobody could get the big dog off her. The receptionist hurt her hand as she hit it on the back.’’
While the owner ‘‘threw himself’’ on the dog – the breed of which is not clear at this stage – Hill kicked the smaller dog away, grabbed its lead and took it inside.
‘‘I was just, I’m afraid to say, a heap. I know what dogs are like when they latch on like that,’’ she said. ‘‘There was no way this dog was going to let go.’’
Eventually, a veterinary clinic staff member threw a bucket of water on the dogs and the attacker let go, but the damage was already done.
A vet treated Phoebe’s wounds and gave her some pain relief before Hill took her home, staying up all night with her, she said.
‘‘I couldn’t bear it, the noises she was making. I couldn’t stop shaking, I was terribly upset. Our nice, lovely dog we loved, getting bitten like that.’’
A vet came out the next day to administer another dose of pain relief and to check on Phoebe’s wounds, but they were too much for the 14-year-old dog and she had to be put down.
‘‘She was old but it shortened her life, and shortened it painfully. She was such a gentle soul.’’
While her son-in-law buried Phoebe, Hill went out and bought a weeping willow to plant over the grave in their backyard.
‘‘I can’t believe people have dogs like that. I’m sorry, I just think it’s ridiculous that people have dogs like that. Maybe it is good with the children, maybe it is a nice people dog, but he’s got to be keeping it away from other dogs,’’ Hill said.
Phoebe was one of six dogs featured on Fairhall Downs’ wine labels, as the small brown dog on the chardonnay bottle.
She was also immortalised in the 2015 edition of Wine Dogs New