Man in call for ban on extendable leads after Perth dog attack

Perth: Pet left with neck cuts after incident in North Muirton

A dog owner has called for a ban on extending leads after his pet was attacked.

John McDonald’s old English mastiff was being walked by his partner when it was mauled by a husky in North Muirton, Perth.

John’s dog, Memphis, was left with cuts to his neck, but he believes the attack had the potential to be more serious.

He said: “My partner was walking the dog from Dunnock Park along to the shops. The guy had his husky on an extendable lead and didn’t seem to know his dog had attacked my dog because he was in front of it.

“My partner could have been walking with her kids and he wouldn’t have known if it had hold of a kid. We’ll need to retrain Memphis as his confidence has been knocked.”

He added that the attack was aided by the other dog’s extendable lead.

He said: “The dog wardens think, because of the size of our dog, that it’s our fault but we don’t have him on an extendable lead. He was on a short one and walks by our side.

“For dogs that size, they should be banned because there’s no way you can control a 50kg or 60kg dog on an extendable lead. As soon as it turns, it’s away and you have no control of it.

“I’d be horrified if my dog went for a smaller dog. “

A police spokeswoman said: “We received a report of a dog having been attacked by another dog on April 5. The matter was reported to the dog warden.”

A spokesman for Perth and Kinross Council confirmed that a dog control notice had been served on the husky owner.

He said: “We were made aware of an incident on April 5 and appropriate action was taken on the same day in accordance with the legislation.”

The guy had his husky on an extendable lead and didn’t seem to know his dog had attacked my dog because he was in front of it. JOHN MCDONALD