Savaged as she saved pup from dog attack
BLOOD pouring from her face, a solicitor hurries away in shock after being savaged by a dog as she tried to stop it mauling her puppy.
Michelle Parker, 43, was bitten three times in the attack in a recreation ground.
She had feared her eight-monthold pomeranian Toby was going to be killed when it was grabbed around the throat.
She watched in horror as the other dog, believed to be a Staffordshire bull terrier, threw Toby around ‘like a ragdoll’.
Mrs Parker leaned down to try to pull the dogs apart, only to be attacked herself. She suffered a cut lip, bites to her right ear and bruising and scratches on her cheek.
Her ordeal ended only when the owner of the raging dog – which was not on a lead – grabbed it, giving her time to escape with Toby.
Mrs Parker needed hospital treatment following the attack in Cutbush Lane Recreation Ground, Southampton.
‘I was walking along with Toby who was on a leash. I heard some shouting and I heard the owner shout at his dog, which was running towards my dog at a million miles an hour,’ she said.
‘Toby started to run off and he was quite scared. I could not get hold of him and the dog was biting him and throwing him around like a ragdoll.
‘As I leaned down to pick him up, that was when the dog went for me and bit me in the face. At the time my only concern was for Toby, if I
‘It went for my face’
had not stepped in he would have mauled him to death. I was not concerned about me.
‘The dog could have bitten my ear off for all I care, I just wanted to save Toby.’
The dog’s owner was a young man who was with a group of people including a young girl. Another Staffy- type dog was running around the field without a lead.
After the attack, the owner apologised to Mrs Parker and said his dog had not done anything like that previously. But he refused to put the dog on a lead and later ran off when witnesses asked him to give his details.
Police were called and Mrs Parker, who has a 16-year- old daughter, was taken to Southampton General Hospital by ambulance.
Toby was treated by a vet for back injuries. He was given injections and is now on painkillers.
Police appealed for witnesses to the attack, at 7pm on Wednesday.