Guide dog savaged in Bull Terrier attack
A seeing eye dog was left covered in blood after it was attacked by another dog in a supermarket in Leith.
The savage incident lasted more than five minutes, as staff leaped to the defence of two-year-old Una and tried repeatedly to free her from the jaws of a bull terrier in the Duke Street outlet of Tesco.
Elaine MacKenzie, who owns Una, recounted the terrifying incident to The Scotsman:
“I popped in to do a bit of shopping and as I walked towards the exit I stopped to make sure I’d put everything in my bag and all of a sudden this dog, that was tied to the shopping baskets holder, just flew at us.
“Una made a noise that can only be described as a scream as this dog got hold of her, trailing shopping baskets behind it.
“I tried hitting it with the lead as customers and staff came over to help and, eventually, they did manage to get the dog off.”
A shocked Una was left with bite marks across her neck and chest. Even so, Ms MacKenzie, 58, thinks she is a lucky Labrador as the attack could have been much worse, and spelled the end of Una’s days as a guide dog – she is still traumatised, and refuses to enter the supermarket any more.
The attacks happened as statistics of attacks on guide dogs were published by Guide Dogs National Breeding Centre. The author of the report, Rachel Moxon, found that the majority of incidents happened without provocation, with the offending dogs not being on leads or otherwise under control by their owners. Presently, three guide dogs have had to retire from duty due to being attacked, whilst another pair are being evaluated for further duty. Ms Moxon commented:
“The other major impact is that blind and partially sighted people are left without a guide dog and become housebound until another suitable dog can be matched up.”
Dog attacks are of great concern to the organisation and to guide dog owners. The number of guide dog owners who are reporting dog attacks on their guide dogs is increasing. Our latest research shows the number of reported attacks on guide dogs has risen from three a month to over seven dog attacks a month within a 14 month period to August 2011. To help protect working guide dogs from attack take action now and email your MP. http://bit.ly/oPLkGV