‘I wish it’d gone for me, not my dog’
‘When does it stop? Does a child have to be hurt for it to go further?’
A pet owner whose beloved chihuahua was attacked by another dog estimates it has cost her £10,000 in vet bills and taking time off work.
Tessa Burr was walking her two pooches, Ava and Evie, in fields off Collier Street near Marden on January 19 when a dog bounded out of a wooded area.
Tessa says it began running at Ava before turning to charge at her.
She said: “The dog was coming for me so I turned my body but kept my eyes on my dogs at all times. It must have just seen Evie in the corner of its eye as it turned and went for her.
“I wish it had gone for me and not Evie.”
Tessa said the dog was a Bully breed – an umbrella term used to describe bulldogs, terriers and pitbulls.
Tessa says it pounced on her four-year-old pup, pinning her to the ground with its jaw locked around her neck.
At this point, the other dog’s owner emerged and began hitting it to try to get it to release Evie.
Tessa said: “Once I saw the dog
had slightly loosened its grip on Evie, I pulled her from its jaws, picked up my other dog and started running.
“I called my husband and told himtomeetusatthevet.”
The quick-thinking pet owner wrapped Evie in her scarf, keeping pressure on the wounds to stop the bleeding and keep her warm – an action the vet said may have saved her.
Evie suffered a dislocated jaw
on one side and a fracture on the other, broken limbs and puncture wounds up her back and neck from the bite.
Medical staff said she needed surgery but were not qualified to provide the specific treatment. She was taken to Lumpry Park, a specialist veterinary centre in Alton, Hampshire, where she stayed for six days.
Now back at home, Evie has stitches all over her body and
metal plates binding her jaw together. She also has a limp and a bruised groin.
With the vet bills and time off work, Tessa estimates the incident has cost her about £10,000. Evie was insured but the policy only covered costs up to £2,000.
Tessa added: “I know it’s not about that but we haven’t got that sort of money. Why should I be having to pay out when all
of this could have been prevented?”
This isn’t the first time Collier Street has seen dog-on-dog attacks. In May, another three cases came to light. One animal died from its injuries.
All of the attacks, including the one on Evie, are thought to have been by the same dog. Tessa said: “Everyone’s frightened to go out and walk their dogs and even taking the bins out people check to see who’s around.
“When does it stop? Does a child have to be hurt for it to go further?”
Advice from the RSPCA states it is an offence for dogs to attack assistance dogs but it is not an offence if a dog attacks a pet. Police were called following the incident involving Evie, but said no criminal offences were identified. But Maidstone council says an investigation is ongoing.
A spokesman said: “The council takes responsible dog ownership very seriously and is currently working with the owner of the victim dog to gather the necessary information to facilitate an investigation.
“We have a variety of enforcement tools available to deal with animal-related incidents, most notably the dog control public spaces protection order, which requires persons in charge of a dog to keep them under proper control at all times.”