A stock image of an American bulldog similar to the one which attacked Saffron’s terrier cross
The grieving owner of a small dog which was mauled to death by an American bulldog has accused her local council of going too soft on people with dangerous pets.
Saffron Bustard from Derriaghy, Northern Ireland, says the bulldog’s owners were handed a warning and control conditions.
They have to keep the dog muzzled and on a leash while walking it in public but will avoid further legal action if there are no repeat incidents.
Saffron was walking her two Chihuahua-Yorkie crosses on Thursday morning when she spotted a woman with a ‘visibly aggressive’ bulldog which was ‘pulling like mad’ on its lead.
She told Belfast Live she passed them later felt a tug on her lead and turned around to see the bulldog was ‘on my dogs’ and the woman was ‘nowhere to be seen’.
‘It was just me and my two dogs against this dog and I just remember trying to rein in the dogs on the lead. I was trying to bring them in to get them up into my arms and I could see that one of them wasn’t coming.’
‘It was all such a blur. I didn’t even remember how but I was on the ground, like the dog swept me off my feet, and I was on the ground trying to pull the dogs away from it and Pablo wasn’t coming.’
A number of drivers on a nearby road had stopped after noticing the unfolding attack but were too afraid to get out of their cars to approach.
The owner eventually appeared but was ‘standing back in complete shock’, Saffron claims.
A man then approached and tried to pull the bulldog off by it’s collar but failed because its jaw was ‘locked’.
It eventually let go after they kicked it but Pablo had by then suffered fatal injuries.
Saffron said she ‘couldn’t believe’ the bulldog’s owner was only issued a warning and control conditions.
She added: ‘I’m afraid to leave the house. I’ll not ever walk Lola by myself again. I’ll never walk that way again. It’s genuinely traumatised me.’
A letter from the Lisburn and Castlereagh Council’s dog enforcement officers reportedly states the incident has been kept on record and the bulldog owner could face legal action if it’s involved in any further similar incidents.
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