Family dog injured

Husky attacked in bizarre balloon incident in garden

George Penman, of Mains of Letham Farm, Arbroath, said Siberian husky Kobe spent all night whimpering and crying after the bizarre incident.

The 69-year-old said the sled dog was “obviously very sore and uncomfortable” after being hit.

He said: “She was whimpering and crying and apparently in real pain, although she did not have any obvious injures.

“She just lay on the sofa all night and needed cuddles.

“I want whoever did this to come forward and admit what they did and apologise. It’s dreadful that someone could do this to a defenceless dog.

“The person may have been frightened, but they went about this the wrong way.”

Mr Penman said it appears someone unbolted the garden gate his home to retrieve a birthday balloon for a young child.

He said 10-year old-Kobe’s “yelping and crying” alerted he and his wife to the incident.

“When my wife opened the door she found Kobe, who is our youngest dog, at the bins. They had been moved to enable the unwelcome visitor to open the gate,” said George.

“Our dogs have the run of the front of the house, which is fenced to keep them there.

“We assume that whoever came through the gate was surprised by her as she is an overly-friendly dog.

‘‘They have been brought up with children and are always being cuddled by anyone who wants to.

“Whoever it was may not like dogs or was frightened by her and we think may have kicked her more than once as she would not let any of us near her and was in a very frightened state.

“If anyone knows the people who were walking along Peebles Road around 7.30-8pm on Monday, please let them know we’re not impressed.

“If they had come to the door we would have retrieved the balloon and allowed the child to meet our dogs and have a better end to their birthday .”

Mr Penman, a former RAF storeman who is now a painter and decorator, has kept huskies for about seven years.

He added: “They are lovely dogs and I use them to pull a sled purely for recreation.

“I don’t compete them but frequently travel up to Aviemore to take part in ‘mushing’, which is a sport which involves dogs pulling carts and sleighs.

“At the moment I have three dogs but in the past I have had a pack of six.”

A dog lover believes one of his pets was attacked when someone trying to retrieve a child’s birthday balloon from his garden got spooked.

George with his Siberian huskies. Kobe, the dog that was attacked, is behind the lead dog in the front on the right.