Crufts judge’s dog ‘grabbed chihuahua in its mouth’
A SENIOR judge at Crufts has been accused of failing to control her deerhound after it allegedly picked up a chihuahua in its mouth.
Police are investigating the incident on April 20 at a National Trust beauty spot, where it is claimed Joan Wragg’s dog left the smaller pet with a puncture wound.
Ella Tramonte and her boyfriend, Elliot Hills, both 25, were walking their chihuahua at Mottisfont in Romsey, Hampshire, when they say two large dogs lunged at them. The couple claim their seven-year-old pet was picked up by a deerhound and Mr Hills had to prise open the larger dog’s mouth to free the chihuahua.
Mrs Wragg was said to have been dragged down a footpath and Miss Tramonte reported her for owning an outof-control dog.
The chihuahua was left with a wound that required emergency veterinary attention. The Crufts judge, who also breeds dogs, agreed to pay the £314.55 bill and said she was “mortified” by what happened.
Mrs Wragg denied that her pets were off their leads or out of control: “I’m a responsible dog owner and immediately apologised for my dogs turning on the chihuahua.”
But Miss Tramonte, a business analyst from Witney in Oxfordshire, said: “An experienced dog handler should not be allowing their animals to pull them along. I would never have taken one of those dogs out, let alone both.”
A police spokesman said: “We are looking into a report of an incident at Mottisfont Abbey on April 20 between 1.25pm and 1.35pm.
“A 25-year-old man was scratched by two dogs as he intervened to separate the dogs from his dog.”