Dog is destroyed for attack on pet (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Dog is destroyed for attack on pet

1:58pm Saturday 28th March 2009 in News By Newsdesk

A dog has been put down after it savaged a family pet and left it needing almost 100 stitches to its stomach.

The animal, described as a “pitbull-type dog”, attacked a border collie in the street in front of its owner.

Kelly Gallagher of Springfield, Queensbury, said her family dog Sam, an 11-year-old border collie, was almost torn to pieces by the other animal.

The attack lasted for up to 15 minutes and Sam required emergency veterinary treatment.

Miss Gallagher said: “He looks like two dogs stapled together – he is lucky he wasn’t killed.

“I phoned the police and was told it was a problem for the dog wardens. I phoned them and reported the dog and they said they did not deal with ‘dog on dog’ incidents.

“So far we know this dog has attacked three dogs and killed one of them. My mother said to the wardens ‘what if this happened to a child?’ But they didn’t seem bothered.”

Queensbury Councillor Michael Walls said: “I will demanding to know what is being done about this. As a dog owner and former policeman I would say it smacks of incompetence and a lack of compassion.

“We have had over 30 years of serious dog attacks on other dogs and children and something must be done about it.”

John Major, Bradford Council’s Assistant Director Environmental Health, said that following the complaints the situation had been dealt with.

He said: “We were first notified of the attack last Tuesday – even though we are told the attack happened on March 5.

“We acted promptly and a dog warden visited her on Wednesday and the owner of the nuisance dog was contacted on Thursday.

“The dog has been put down after the owner surrendered the animal to the dog warden service. He claimed to have taken the dog in as a stray in late February.

“Normally the police are responsible for dealing with any complaints involving banned breeds and for dealing with dogs that are out of control in a public place where people are attacked or threatened. The Council is responsible for dealing with stray dogs or nuisance dogs only when one dog attacks another. We liaise with the police to try and ensure that one or other organisation effectively deals with any complaint.”