Bride bitten by dog at wedding

A bride who rushed from her wedding day photo shoot to stop her pet pitbull from savaging another dog has been bitten herself.

The bride and two of her guests were injured when they intervened in a dog attack in Palmerston North on Saturday.

A guest at the wedding, who didn’t want to be identified, said her friend’s backyard wedding on Nottingham Ave turned ugly when the bride’s pitbull, named Ruby, got out of the house and attacked a passing dog.

When attempts were made to separate the animals, the other dog bit the bride and two of the guests.

The guest said the bridal party were posing for photos by a door in the living room when Ruby came shooting past, heading outside after spotting a passing dog. ‘‘That dog is like a child to [the bride], and she is very upset.’’

Ruby had pounced on the other dog, grabbed the skin of its shoulder blades in its mouth and was trying to force it to submit, she said. The bride rushed forward, screaming at Ruby in an attempt to bring the dog to heel, while guests flooded out to see what was wrong.

The dogs were soon separated. The guest said celebrations were rekindled after the dogs had been seized by animal control, and it was still an enjoyable wedding.

A Palmerston North City Council spokeswoman said the dog that was attacked was taken to a vet and received treatment.

The attacking dog was being kept kept by the council and would stay at the pound while the matter was investigated.