Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SISTER & BROTHER TELL OF MAULING TRAUMA
Sommer, 15, injured by rampaging dog
A YOUNG girl has been mauled by a German Shepherd dog inside her home after it chased her little brother through a housing estate.
Sommer Sweet suffered 18 puncture wounds in the distressing incident in Co Down last week.
Her brother Zach, 11, was physically uninjured but both youngsters have been left severely traumatised, and 15-yearold Sommer needed intravenous antibiotics for five days followed by further medication for three weeks.
Their mum Leah Mccullough, 36, said: “I was walking our dog Cleo with Zach in the Glen Estate in Newtownards when this huge German Shepherd broke out of its garden through the fence.
“It started attacking Cleo. She just didn’t have a chance to protect herself.
“Zach kicked and jumped on the big dog to try to get it off Cleo, and thankfully he managed to stop it from being able to get his teeth into Cleo’s neck.
“I shouted to him to run home and get help and I picked her up in my arms. Her leg and shoulder were all ripped and bleeding. The German Shepherd’s owners came out and grabbed their dog and I started running home with Cleo and Zach was running ahead of me.
“But for some reason the owners of the other dog released it and it started chasing after Zach.
“I was screaming to him to get to safety but he just thought I was shouting for help for Cleo. There was such a panic, it was terrible.
“When Zach reached our house, he was shouting for his sister to get help for Cleo and he didn’t even know the big dog was right behind him.
“When Sommer opened the front door the big dog ran in and ran into our sitting room and spotted our cat Jax and went straight for him.
“Sommer flung herself between them and pushed the cat under a corner table but the big dog was snapping and snarling. So poor Sommer was holding the cat under the table with one hand and Jax was scrabbling at her in panic. At the same time she was trying to hold the big dog back with her other hand but it kept biting her.
“Somehow we got the German Shepherd out of the house. It was horrendous – Sommer’s right hand and arm were all bites, Cleo was bleeding, we were all panicked and crying.”
The dog was taken back in by its owners. It was later removed by the dog warden and has since been destroyed.
Sommer, a Year 11 student at Strangford College, said: “It was a total nightmare and we were all very frightened. We love dogs and cats and we make sure we are safe and they are safe but this situation just spiralled out of control in a moment.
“Cleo seems OK now but she needed nine staples on a wound on her leg and she was very bashed and bruised.
“I suffered 18 puncture wounds and I think the worst injury happened when the dog grabbed my arm and I pulled it away. I ended up with wounds that needed to heal and seven stitches.
“My arm is still very sore and I will need physiotherapy to get sorted when the wounds have healed.
“We feel really sad that the big dog has had to be put down but we found out afterwards that it was on a red card already after it bit a child last year.”
Zach, who also attends Strangford College, said he was terrified of the dog but is heartbroken it had to be destroyed.
He added: “It’s not the fault of the dog that it did what it did.
“We are responsible for Cleo and what she does and she’s a lovely, friendly dog but we always make sure she is on a lead when we are out walking her.
“It was a very scary time and I feel bad that Sommer is still so injured and sore.”
I suffered 18 puncture wounds... I will need physio when they heal SOMMER SWEET NEWTOWNARDS, CO DOWN