Hero grabs Hoover pole to save boy from savage dog
Louis recovering in hospital with his mother Sarah A BOY was saved from a savage dog attack by a neighbour who fought off the animal – using part of his vacuum cleaner.
Police say Louis Currie, 12, could have been killed by the powerful English bull terrier which pounced on him as he rode his bike near his home in Droylsden, Greater Manchester.
The dog tore a chunk of flesh from his leg and sank its teeth into his arms and face. But neighbour Stewart McGuinness ran to Louis’ aid wielding a metal extension pole from his vacuum cleaner.
Stewart, 45, hit the dog until it freed the boy and then used the pole to fend off the animal as other neighbours helped Louis to safety.
Louis is recovering at St Mary’s Hospital, Manchester, with potentially lifelong scars. Police said if Stewart had not intervened “the consequences could have been far worse”.
Louis’ mother Sarah said: “Louis tried to climb on to cars and a van but the dog wouldn’t stop. Stewart got a Hoover pole and battered the dog. In my eyes, he saved my son’s life.”
Stewart, a mini- sweeper driver for Salford council, said he heard Louis’ screams as he watched television with his partner Julie, 47, last Sunday.
He said: “Julie looked out of the window and saw the lad being Stewart with his makeshift weapon attacked by the dog. It was on top of him, biting him. I grabbed the first thing that came to hand, which happened to be the vacuum extension.
“I tried to force the dog off the lad, but he had him by the leg. It was vicious. It wasn’t nice having to whack the dog with the pole, but I had no choice – it would have killed him.”
Police said the bull terrier is in kennels awaiting destruction while its owner, a 35- year- old woman, has been summonsed for having a dog dangerously out of control.