A dog belonging to an Aberdeenshire accountant has been left savaged after an encounter with a staffordshire bull terrier at Hazlehead Crematorium.
Chartered accountant Bill Griffin was attending a funeral for one of his client’s fathers on Thursday when the gruesome attack took place.
After the service concluded, Mr Griffin, 59, took his ten-month-old springer spaniel Brodie to the nearby woodland to stretch his legs after he had been sat waiting in the car for the duration of the the half-hour funeral.
But the horrifying attack that followed left Mr Griffin so covered in his dog’s blood he had to take the black suit he wore to the funeral to the dry cleaners.
Mr Griffin said: “At first the staffy came up to Brodie, and they were kind of nose to nose, just sniffing each other like dogs normally do, so I thought at the time what a nice looking dog the staffy was.
“He was being walked off the lead by two women, as well as a black scottie.
“The next thing I knew was hearing Brodie yelp, and I saw the staffy’s jaws sink into the back of his leg.
“I can’t remember exactly how long the staffy was stuck on Brodie, it was a couple of minutes, but it eventually loosened its grip and I managed to pull him out and up into my arms, there was a lot of blood.
“And at that point the dog went and walked towards me, but they still didn’t call it off. I wasn’t scared for me, I was scared for my dog, he could have died.”
Mr Griffin explained that despite his spaniel clearly being in immense pain, the two women were less than helpful.
He continued:”But what got me was at no time can I recall the owners of the dogs attempting to put either of their two dogs on a lead.
“There was never any attempt to call the dog off, all they said was ‘oh, he never does this’, quite matter of factly.
“One of the women did say that she was sorry, and that he had never done this before, but I’m sorry, if a dog has done it once, it’s going to do it again.
“I’m just thankful I wasn’t a young lassie out walking with a toddler in a pram.”
Although quite frightened by the ordeal, Mr Griffin said that Brodie will cope with his injuries: “I knew I should have got their names, but my first concern was to get him to a vet.
“He’s relatively okay, his back muscle was ripped in two, and he’s got two really bad puncture marks. He’s got drains put in to let the poison out and prevent any infection, and the vet said he’s got a good dog version of BMI.
“I’m really concerned if this dog is still allowed to be walking off the lead in this area, something far worse could happen.
“All I want is for these women to see this and have the decency to get in touch with me.”
Marie Simpson, manager of Mrs Murray’s Cats and Dogs home said that when it comes to bull terrier attacks, it’s the owners that are to blame: “A lot of people are put off by staffys because they get such bad press and reputation, but they can be very loving and loyal family pets.
“The problem is often their owners don’t take the time to socialise them early at a young age, and when they grow up they can be aggressive to other pets.
“People also encourage behaviour that shouldn’t be encouraged. At a young age, they might want to chase a cat and the owners can just think it’s funny, but when they grow up they can do damage.”
Mr Griffin was told by Aberdeen City Council’s animal welfare department that a patrol would be sent out in the area to find the dog fitting his description.
A council spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that the matter has been reported to the dog warden and that we are in contact with the owner who informed us of the alleged incident.”