Dog owner had to prise pet’s jaws off head of woman, 75
A PENSIONER’S scalp was ripped down to the skull during a vicious dog attack.
Jacqueline McGrew, 75, was savaged by a neighbour’s animal, which was later seized by police.
Officers believe the animal – who had to have its jaws prised off Mrs McGrew’s head – may be a pitbull-type breed.
Andrew McGrew, 53, told how his mother had “been bitten on the scalp”.
“It was down to the skull,” he said. “She has had her nose reconstructed and an operation on her head.”
Mrs McGrew, who was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2012 for her community work, did not have to wait for an ambulance.
Her son said: “Luckily, a paramedic across the road heard her screaming. She drove her straight to hospital.
“I then got a phone call at work to say my mum had been bitten.
“I thought it might have been on her leg or hand. I didn’t realise how bad it would be when I walked in to see her. Her clothes were covered in blood. The dog had even bitten through her phone.”
The animal, called Kia, is understood to have attacked Mrs McGrew in the front garden of her neighbour’s home as she tried to deliver something.
David Gorton, who was looking after the dog for his son in Blackburn, Lancs, has described Tuesday’s attack.
He told the Mirror’s sister website Lancs Live: “I was upstairs and heard this strange noise and thought ‘What the hell is that?’ It all happened so quick.
“I had to shove my hands in the dog’s mouth to get her off. Kia is my son Sonny’s dog. He’s had her since she was a baby.”
Mr Gorton, who has a “Beware of dogs” sign on his gate, told how Kia had been “seized and tested before after she attacked another dog”.
He said: “They gave her back and said she wasn’t a pitbull. Sonny said straight after it happened he was going to take Kia to the vet to have her put down but we said to wait and let the police deal with it. The police also took Nala, our two-year-old, even though she had nothing to do with it.”
A police spokesman said: “A woman in her 70s had been attacked by two dogs in the front garden of an address in Devon Road. The woman suffered serious head and facial injuries.”
He said she was treated at Royal Blackburn Hospital and confirmed that two dogs had been seized.
Det Sgt Peter Davies added: “The woman involved was believed to be making a delivery to the address when she was attacked.
“She has suffered significant, lifechanging injuries. Our thoughts are with her and her family at this time.”
Tuesday’s attack comes after The Mirror set up a campaign calling for changes to the Dangerous Dogs Act following a spate of serious injuries and deaths caused by dogs.