A mum says her three-legged dog was viciously attacked by a possible pitbull, leaving her too scared to take him and her puppy out for walks.
Barbara Walker was in a field throwing a ball to her dogs when she spotted another mutt that she says looked like a pitbull leave its owner and come charging over.
The mum of two said she quickly picked up her five-month-old puppy and at which point the stranger's dog went for her pooch, Marley.
The dog was muzzled so unable to bite Marley, but was jumping on top of him, leading Barbara to "knee" it in the head in an effort to stop the attack.
Marley ended up with two cuts on the side of this body, she said, but thankfully escaped serious injury. Babara said she was left shaking and crying.
Speaking after the incident, which happened in Lydiate near Liverpool this week, Barbara added: "I was just throwing a ball for my dogs and all of a sudden I heard this man shouting and I looked up and there was this big dog that looked like a pitbull coming over.
"The dog was muzzled but it kept jumping all over Marley and I started kneeing it in the head to get it off.
"He kept shouting for the dog to come back, but it just was not interested. He could not control him. It was really vicious and it's lucky it had a muzzle on otherwise it would have shredded my dog."
Barbara, 38, said after a few minutes the owner of the dog came over and managed to get his dog on a lead. When she threatened to call the police he quickly left.
She said Marley, who lost his leg after being hit by a car before his first birthday, is recovering well.
However Barbara said she has been left shaken. She said: "When the man left I felt sick and I was shaking. It broke my heart, I was crying.
"My kids are older now but my dogs are my babies. I'm scared to take my dogs out now on my own."
Barbara has reported the incident to the police and is awaiting a response.
Merseyside Police were approached for a comment.
As we reported last week, there has been a surge in fatal dog attacks in Britain that may have been caused by "impulse buys" during the Covid lockdown.
An RSPCA dog specialist said the popularity of buying puppies during the pandemic may have had a hand in the rising rates of deadly maulings.
The Canine and Feline Behaviour Association reports a 54% increase in dog attacks from 2020 to 2021.
