Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Dog’s bite killed my brother and cost husband his legs
Nips from family pet infected pair
A GRIEVING sister has told how her brother died and her husband was left facing a double leg amputation after being bitten by the same dog.
Pauline Day said Barry Harris, 46, was nipped by family pet Ted during a walk and passed away three days later.
Her husband Mark, 61, got bitten on the morning of Barry’s funeral and developed sepsis. He had two cardiac arrests, lost seven fingers and expects his legs to be removed next week.
Doctors said the bacterial infection “100%” came from Japanese Akita Ted and the dog has now been put down.
Pauline, 62, said: “It’s like something out of a nightmare. You just don’t believe this has happened. The shock of my brother was one thing and then my husband. It’s just surreal.
“They weren’t even attacked. Ted literally just broke the skin on my husband and my brother.”
Barry paid £1,500 for the dog in May through a seller on Facebook. He wanted some company after a breakup. The previous owner claimed the pet was well trained.
But Barry found the
TRAGIC
15-month-old dog did not even respond to its own name. On July 7 he suffered a nasty bite while trying to remove an animal bone from Ted’s mouth.
His arm swelled up and he fell ill with cold sweats and headaches before suffering a heart attack at home.
Pauline, of Colchester, Essex, added: “I was so upset, my brother was trying so hard with the dog so my husband, Mark, and I took it on. It was the softest dog but it had food issues. Whenever it was near food it was so aggressive.
“We think it was mistreated as a pup.” Mark was bitten on August 19, before Barry was laid to rest. The builder has been in hospital ever since.
Pauline said: “He has gone from a burly man who never had a day off, to someone who needs a wheelchair. I’ve lost my brother now this is happening to my husband.”
She also told how a check of Ted’s paperwork found no vaccine records.
Pauline added: “They gave him a false history.”