Torn limb from limb
Grandmother’s horror as pet chihuahuas are killed by 4 rampant bull terriers
A PENSIONER watched helplessly as her two small dogs were ‘ripped to pieces’ by four Staffordshire bull terriers.
Jean Tuck, 83, was bitten on the ankle as the owner of the vicious dogs stood nearby for several minutes ‘doing nothing’.
The former magistrate said she had been crying herself to sleep since the remains of her chihuahua Phoebe and chihuahua pug cross Podge were buried in her garden by sympathetic police officers.
A man and a woman in their 40s have been arrested and bailed in connection with the attack, which happened at lunchtime on Tuesday.
Their dogs, which were not on leads, are being held in secure kennels while police investigate the drama in King’s Lynn, Norfolk.
Grandmother-of-two Mrs Tuck, a retired home economics lecturer, said: ‘I had my dogs on a lead and the next second these four dogs appeared.
‘I think they must have pulled the leads out of my hands. One of the dogs had got Phoebe in its mouth.
‘ Three other dogs then tore Podge to bits. It was dreadful, absolutely horrendous. We’ve had dogs all our lives and to see them ripped to pieces in front of your eyes was horrible.
‘The man stood there five or six feet away and never did a thing. I shouted at him and said “Kick it”. I wouldn’t normally suggest that but I needed him to do something. But it was too late.
‘At one point I looked down and one had its mouth around my ankle. Fortunately I was wearing thick socks and corduroys.
‘It seemed like it went on for hours but it was probably three or four minutes. By the time it had finished there was a crowd of people shouting at them to do something. One man said, “You should be hanged for this”.’
Mrs Tuck said a woman comforted her while another bystander called the police and someone else ran to get her husband James, also 83, a retired science lecturer. Phoebe died instantly, while Podge died later at a vet’s. The pets had been adopted from a rescue centre and are believed to have been ten and eight respectively.
Mrs Tuck added: ‘I’ve never seen the man or the woman he was with before and I hope I never see them again. They should be prosecuted. I was a magistrate in King’s Lynn for many years and I don’t think I came across a worse case in that time. I’ve cried myself to sleep the last two nights. Phoebe and Podge were as much part of my family as my two daughters are.’
Mr and Mrs Tuck have another dog, a pure bred Staffordshire bull terrier called Smedley, who is 11.
Norfolk Police have appealed for witnesses to the attack.