Man needs stitches after shocking dog attack in local park
STEFAN JAJECZNYK
AMAN was hospitalised and needed surgery after being attacked by a dog TWICE in a park.
Gary Dowling, 55, was taking a leisurely afternoon stroll through Rhyddings Park in Oswaldtwistle with his Springer Spaniel, Wilson.
He was bitten once by the other dog, after walking past it on a pathway.
The dog later rounded on him once more and bit him hard, taking a ‘chunk out’ of his right arm - which he had raised to protect himself.
Gary, who had to have surgery at Royal Preston Hospital, has had at least eight stitches leaving his arm and hand scarred and was signed off from his job as an engineer, by doctors, for two weeks.
Describing the attack, Gary said: “The dog was barking, going crazy - I put my hand back and said ‘good boy’ or ‘everything’s alright’ and from there it came and bit me through my hand - through my knuckle.
“I could feel the blood running down my hand. I thought I’d go and show him [the owner] what the dog had done to my hand.
“Then the next thing, the dog’s at me again and I put my arm up and it bit through my arm - it took a chunk out of the top.
“I had surgery on Sunday morning.”
Gary says he has had at least eight stitches in his arm after surgeons cleaned the wound and pulled his skin back over his arm and sewed it back in place.
The incident has left him shaken and wary about taking Wilson for walks at the park again.
Gary, who lives on Mayfield Avenue, in Oswaldtwistle, says that dog owners should keep their dogs under control or muzzled if necessary.
He said: “I haven’t been back - it’s not too often I go to the park, I usually take him up Brookside.
“There were kids all over that park, if that dog had broken free, I don’t know what would have happened.
“If it attacks somebody else, you never know what might happen.
“I’d think twice about going there again, it wasn’t a minor incident. Two attacks on the same day by a dog.
“I’m a bit wary and cautious of other dogs now. I haven’t been in the park since and I don’t really want to.”
A Lancashire Police spokesperson said: “We received a call in the evening of Saturday, July 21 with a report of assault.
“An investigation is ongoing and anyone with information should call 1010 quoting reference LC20180721-1485.”