A seven-year-old Cocker Spaniel has had to have two operations and needed 45 stitches after what has been described as "15 seconds of bedlam" in a Welsh seaside town. Pepper was being walked by her 85-year-old owner when she was attacked in Pestatyn.
Roger Harrison-Jones, who was walking his pet off the lead, said he had to fight to separate the dogs on the town's old railway track and has encouraged other dog owners to keep their dogs on leads.
There has been growing alarm in the town about the number of dogs being walked off leads, with some being labelled "dangerous" and "bad-tempered". NorthWalesLive has reported that one owner has threatened to seek prosecution under the Dangerous Dog Act if her dog is set upon again.
Mr Harrison-Jones is well known in the town, having run Roger W Jones Builders Merchants in Rhyl for many years. With wife Valerie, he alternates Pepper’s twice-daily walks along a former rail branch line that, until 1973, carried freight trains from Dyserth Quarry. Pepper, he said is “a lovely dog, bright as a button”.
“It happened on my watch,” he told NorthWalesLive. “I was walking along quite happily with the Cocker Spaniel off the lead when I was approached by another dog owner. To be fair, she had her dog on a lead.
“Even so, it lunged out and savaged Pepper. It was bedlam, a 15-second nightmare. We both struggled to pull them apart. I was so shocked I just wanted to move on, and it wasn’t for another 300 metres that I noticed a large flap of skin was hanging from Pepper.
“I feel guilty, it was on my watch and I should have had Pepper on a lead. If I had, I might have been able to get to them quicker and Pepper might have been able to get away.”
The spaniel was given more than 45 stitches when treated by a vet. But a further operation was needed to redo the stitches when some of the damaged skin died. Laser surgery is now a possibility, adding to veterinary bills that have already passed £3,000.
Daughter Susan Harrison-Jones, from Gwaenysgor, shared a photo of Pepper’s wounds on social media to warn others of the need to have their pets on a lead when approaching unfamiliar dogs. Although her parents live near the path, and they have walked it twice a day for the last 45 years, until now their main concern has been about too-fast cyclists.
“People have been saying there’s an epidemic of dog attacks in the area,” said Susan. “There have been recent reports from Ffrith beach and the dunes, as well as the old railway line.
“I made the post to warn walkers of the dangers of dogs you don’t know. I don’t want anyone else to go through what my father has gone through. He has held his hands up and he is still beating himself up over the incident.”
Her post prompted an online debate over culpability, with some people suggesting the owner of Pepper’s attacker was at fault, despite her dog being on a lead. “That dog now has the taste of doing it again and should be muzzled on future walks,” said one woman.
Whilst accepting blame, Mr Harrison-Jones has some sympathy for this viewpoint. “The dog was being controlled but because its lead was slack, it was able to lunge two or three feet to reach Pepper,” he said. “What worries me is that it could have been my leg, or a child, it had gone for.”
Some believe that all dogs should be under control when in the vicinity of other dogs they don’t know. “It’s really frustrating when your dog is very anxious and stray dogs come up (to them),” said a Prestatyn woman. “The owners say, it’s ok, they’re friendly, but your dog is petrified. This is why I don't walk my dogs along the beach or narrow walkways.”
Another dog owner who takes her two pets for morning runs on Talacre beach said she had a fraught encounter last week. Both her dogs were on a lead when a large dog – not on a lead – “flew across to my two, snarling, lunging and baring its teeth”.
She invoked section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to warn the dog’s owner of future prosecution if it happens again. She added: “You are taking away my right to walk safely in a public place and you are putting the public at risk by not having your dangerous dog on a lead.”
Pepper had her latest veterinary consultation on Monday evening. “She is in a terrible state but hopefully she’ll pull through,” said Susan.
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