A DOG owner is furious after her pet was attacked by two Staffordshire bull terriers that she says had escaped from an unsecure garden.
Sue Pemberton, from Chelmer Village, had entrusted her friendly labradoodle Jack with his dog walker on January 2 when she claims the dogs burst out and attacked her pet, leaving him permanently scarred.
Metha Fardell, the dog walker who had picked Jack up that day along with her own dog, Jack Russell Poppy, recalls it as being one of the worst of her life.
"I heard a really disturbing noise from behind the fence and immediately had a bad feeling about the situation. The second I had turned around the first dog, I believe to be a Staffordshire bull terrier, had smashed through the fence and latched itself around Jack's neck followed by a second dog.
"Their owner appeared a few minutes later and was screaming and shouting at me. I was saying 'He's going to kill Jack get them off!', there was so much blood where Jack had been bitten."
It took seven people to eventually separate the dogs from Jack as passers-by jumped to his aid, she said.
Owner Sue said: "Luckily Jack is a big dog so he managed to get away without being harmed too seriously, but if it had been a smaller dog, or even a child, I don't even want to think about what could have happened. What if I'd been with my two-year- old? The Jack Russell actually leapt in to protect Jack when it happened, even though she's tiny."
Jack was left with staples in his ear and leg – and Sue with a £170 vet bill – but his owner is concerned that the same thing could happen again.
Sue immediately reported the incident to the police, the RSPCA and the dog warden, but as yet nothing has been done.
Although Jack has bounced back from the attack, his companion Poppy has been left shaken by her experience.
"I have to take Poppy for walks by herself now as she thinks every other dog is going to attack her," said Metha,
"We just want to make people aware of the potential danger," added Sue.
"We also want to thank all those people who stopped to help at the time of the incident We're really grateful."
Police are appealing for witnesses to call 101.
