A pensioner has been left ‘absolutely terrified' of dogs after being attacked by her neighbour’s ‘out of control’ Staffordshire bull terrier. Jacqueline McGrew, 76, suffered serious bites to her face, head, arms, hand and back after she was attacked from behind by the dog.
She’d gone to visit her neighbour on June 14 last year but when she went onto the garden, the dog, who was called Kia, immediately attacked her. The large dog only stopped attacking her when it was sprayed with a hosepipe.
Following an investigation by police, David Wilson, 57, was charged with being the owner/person in charge of dog dangerously out of control causing injury. Jacqueline had surgery on her head, suffered a broken nose and the sight in her right eye was affected for a week but she was discharged from hospital after 14 days. She has now said she is 'absolutely terrified' of dogs and is 'having to change how I live my daily life' because of her fear.
Jacqueline said: "I am absolutely terrified of any dog now. If I am on my mobility scooter and I see a dog, even across the road I freeze, I panic and I don't know what to do.
"I'm terrified that the dog might do something. I was outside a shop waiting for a taxi the other day and there was another customer with a dog.
"They just walked past and the dog approached me and the lady said to the dog something like 'that lady has nothing in her trolley for you’. I didn't even turn round, I froze, I was frightened, I didn't know what to do and the lady probably thought I was really ignorant and I'm not, I was just thinking please get your dog away.
"The dog probably wasn't going to do anything but I was terrified. I have always loved animals, and I am having to change how I live my daily life.
"When I'm at home if I hear a dog barking I get really anxious and I'm looking where my cats are and where the dog might be. I worry about my cats being out now."
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Despite being 'frightened of seeing a dog', the pensioner has said is determined to not 'spend the final years of my life staying in and becoming a hermit'.
Jacqueline, of Blackburn, Lancashire, said: "I have always been independent and I volunteer at a community scheme where I go every day to help the people on the estate where I live. I have done this for around 30 years.
"I am frightened of seeing a dog on the street and I freeze, terrified of what it might do to me. There are people who visit the community office with dogs and they will stand at the doorway and chat rather than bringing the dog into the office.
"I still go out and try and live my life normally as I will not let this beat me. I will not spend the final years of my life staying in and becoming a hermit because of what happened."
Wilson, also of Blackburn, admitted the offence at Burnley Magistrates' Court on Wednesday (March 29) and will be sentenced on May 3 at Blackburn Magistrates' Court. The dog has since been put down.
DC Vicky Heys, of Blackburn CID, said: "This was a shocking attack which resulted in Jacqueline receiving a number of nasty injuries. These are some of the worst injuries I have seen in my time as a police officer, certainly from a dog attack.
"The impact of this attack on Jacqueline continues to remain with her and probably will for the remainder of her life. One witness described Jacqueline’s scrams as being harrowing, so this is something that has clearly impacted on the community as well. I welcome the guilty plea and the fact that somebody has taken responsibility for this crime."
