A woman said she was viciously attacked by a rottweiler which was off the lead while she was out for a jog with her partner's dog at Pontardawe Canal. Holly-Jean Emery said her arm was pouring with blood after she ripped it out of the dog's mouth. The 20-year-old was later rushed to hospital and she and her family are now hoping police can locate the dog and its owner so no-one else ends up suffering such serious injuries.
The incident happened on Sunday, August 21, when Pontardawe Festival was in full swing, attracting crowds to see live music and drink in the local pubs and bars. Trying to get away from the noise and excitement, Miss Emery took her partner's dog, Stanford, out for a jog with her in Pontardawe, passing the Recreation Ground and going along the canal where it was quieter. Stanford is 12 years old and does not stray far from Miss Emery on their usual walks so he was off lead at the time.
After jogging "quite far" along the canal path, Miss Emery, a waiting list officer at Morriston Hospital, from Alltwen, decided to turn around and walk back. At around 6:15pm, she said she first noticed a man walking a rottweiler on the lead about three metres away from her and said she felt uneasy. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
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Describing the rottweiler, she said it was "absolutely huge" with floppy ears, a long tail, "black with gingery brown tan markings" and was about half the size of Miss Emery who is 5ft 5in. She added: "I put my dog on the lead because I could see this dog was really aggressive from the start. Its hair was up on its back, it was growling and barking at me. So I said to the man, 'is your dog aggressive, is it okay for me to pass?' and he said 'Yeah, it's fine, don't worry.'" Miss Emery then checked with the man if it was okay to walk about a mile ahead and let her dog off the lead which he said was not a problem.
Miss Emery and her dog then travelled further up the path until she said the man and his rottweiler looked like "ants" in the distance. Stanford was off the lead and stayed beside her and the pair were making their way back home.
"All of a sudden, I turn around and I just see this rottweiler coming straight for me. Literally, full speed and I see the guy panic," said Miss Emery. She said she was unsure whether the dog had been taken off the lead or the lead had broken but said the owner later maintained the lead had broken and his dog had escaped.
As the dog approached, Miss Emery got Stanford, who was still off the lead at this time, to sit by her as she tried to stay "really calm and chilled". Miss Emery explained that the rottweiler then came over to Stanford and pinned him down but was "playing". Stanford yelped, but Miss Emery explained that as the dog was elderly he yelped often even when he was not badly hurt.
The Rottweiler then walked off and Miss Emery said she picked Stanford up to check him over. "He didn't have anything wrong with him, he was fine. But he was shaking, he was a bit scared." Miss Emery said she kept Stanford in her arms to try to calm him down but the rottweiler then kept walking back and forth towards her.
At around 6:30pm, Miss Emery said the owner was still taking his time to walk towards her and she asked him if he could come and put his dog on the lead. But what happened next was something Miss Emery described as straight out of a "horror movie". She said the dog reached up, grabbed her arm and locked onto it.
"It was weird how the dog attacked me. It was like the dog was so calm like it had thought it through almost. It locked onto my arm to the point where its eyes were squinted and its nose was squinted up because it was so deep in my arm and he pulled me down".
Miss Emery said she was dragged to the ground and she dropped Stanford. She said "I was so close to this dog looking at its face and its eyes that I instinctively ripped my arm away. I probably made it far worse but it was so locked onto my arm and so close to my neck that I thought if this dog gets my neck I will be dead." After she ripped her arm out of the rottweiler's grip, she said the dog ran back towards its owner and Stanford sat quietly next to her.
Realising she had dropped her phone when the dog had bit her, she waited for the owner to approach before trying to pick it back up. She said the owner "took his time" reaching an injured Miss Emery, despite the scene being what she described as a "blood bath". When the owner finally reached the rottweiler, she said he did not put the dog on the lead and did not ask if she was okay but instead asked her what he could do. "I told him, 'for a start, you can put your dog on the lead, it's been aggressive with me from the start'.'"
Miss Emery's phone was right next to the dog and she said she pleaded with the man to get it for her. After asking more than once without any response from the owner, Miss Emery picked up the phone and risked being in close proximity to the dog which had just attacked her. "I probably shouldn't have done that, but I was so panicked. I lost so much blood and I needed help," she added.
After asking the owner to keep his dog away from her, Miss Emery said she started to walk away and called her partner and mother for help. About a mile ahead of the owner and the rottweiler, Miss Emery said she looked back and noticed the owner was still crouched down with his dog who was yet to be put back on the lead. Miss Emery said she heard the owner on the phone saying, "the dog's attacked someone".
Covered in her own blood, Miss Emery said she passed a female runner who asked if she was okay. Miss Emery asked the woman to go towards the dog and its owner and try to get their details, but told her to keep a safe distance. Miss Emery said she had spoken to the woman since who had told her that when she had reached the scene, the owner had already left. Leaving the canal at around 6:45pm, Miss Emery was joined by her parents who took her to the hospital whilst her partner took Stanford home. After the incident, she said there were reports of the owner being spotted walking past the Ynysmeudwy Arms.
At A&E, Miss Emery was told that the Rottweiler had punctured her arm five times and had broken a tooth which was now embedded in her bone, as well as causing severe muscle and tendon damage. Miss Emery was told she needed emergency surgery to remove the tooth and fix the fracture but, due to issues with anaesthetic, was sent home. At home, on Sunday night, she said her arm started swelling due and she was returned to Singleton hospital the following morning for surgery to remove the tooth.
She said she had been signed off from work for three weeks and was resting at home with her parents. She added: "This dog went for me. It had the opportunity to kill my dog and it didn't go for my dog it went for me. That's purely why I want this dog put down because it thought everything through, it was a very calculated dog. The way he acted was as if he had bit before."
Police are appealing for information on the attack.
A statement said: "Officers are trying to track down the man with the dog responsible for the attack. The man is described as being 5ft 11, in his late forties/early fifties, with a stocky build, a neat grey beard, grey short hair and wearing shorts. The dog has been described as a ginger and black Rottweiler wearing a black or brown collar.
"The man is urged to make contact, as is anybody who thinks they known him, by going to https://orlo.uk/Pjy4i and using reference 2200284550."
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