A 62-year-old man who had his arm ripped in two as he was savaged by a dog had his third operation in hospital yesterday.

And the fate of the animal that attacked him remains unclear.

The Telegraph & Argus yesterday reported how father-of-two Chris Hirst was viciously mauled by an American bulldog as he delivered prescription medication to an address on Fairfax Crescent in Bierley on Monday.

The Bierley Pharmacy delivery driver, speaking from his bed at Leeds General Infirmary, described how he was thrown about “like a rag doll” by the powerful dog. And he thanked a stranger, 27-year-old Danny Gomersall, for saving his life by hitting the dog over the head with a shovel at least ten times.

Yesterday, dad-of-one Mr Gomersall, who lives on the street, said he had not seen or heard the dog barking and did not know what had happened to it.

When the T&A visited yesterday there was no sign of the animal and a gate at the front of the property – which has signs warning of a dog that “bites” – was padlocked shut.

But Mr Hirst’s wife, who did not want to be named, said she did not believe the dog had been destroyed and added: “That dog is still there – what if a child had gone into that garden?”

Her husband, who has worked for the pharmacy for around five years, has already had two operations to sew part of his arm back on and yesterday was back in surgery to have his wounds flushed out and cleaned.

He is expected to have further surgery next week to have some muscle taken from his back to try and repair some of the damage to his arm. Mr Gomersall said he had spoken to Mr Hirst’s son and the operation had gone well.

Meanwhile, Coun John Ruding (Lab, Tong) said the owners had done the “right thing” by warning people about the dog by placing signs on their gate.

“I’m sure it’s a one-off thing that won’t be repeated.

“It’s not something the community should be that concerned about.”

But he said: “It was clearly a sustained attack and the dog was clearly intent on doing some serious damage.

“I suppose the owners have done what they could and didn’t expect something like this to happen.

“It looks like it was a one-off occurance that you can’t really legislate for.”

The Government announced in February that it would extend the dangerous dogs legislation to make it an offence for a dog to be dangerously out of control in any place, including all private property.

But campaigners say the proposals do not go far enough and have urged further legislation to allow police and dog wardens to take preventative action against dogs exhibiting dangerous behaviour.