A family has revealed its devastation after a 'massive' bulldog mauled its mental health support puppy to death.
Mum Anna, who did not want to give her full name, said she was forced to watch in horror as her 11-year-old son's tiny spaniel was savaged in the attack whilst on a walk.
Felix was initially bought for Anna's son Nikita, but the mum from Ukraine said the dog ended up supporting her own mental health struggles, due to the ongoing war in her home country.
Anna said she was giving pup Felix a lunchtime walk on Monday, and was heading back to her home in Orpington when the unknown dog struck in Bromley, south London.
The dog, Anna said, was off-leash at the time, and she suspected it belonged to a man she spotted outside a restaurant.
The 36-year-old said the man was sitting "on a kind of iron pipe or ladder with his dog not on the lead", she said, which then to her horror "ran straight at Felix and started attacking him", MyLondon reports.
"It was really shocking, I was really afraid it was going to attack me as well," she added.
"I was screaming like crazy by this point and several people from the NHS clinic ran out of the back door, Paul, Emma, and Vannessa, came to help and they were so brave.
"They basically pulled Felix out of that huge dog’s jaws, which was really horrible to have to see.
"The owner was trying to take the dog back but it wouldn’t listen - it was just munching on my puppy."
Anna has shared a video of the dog in question sauntering away after the attack.
After prising Felix free from the killer dog's jaws, Anna took him into the clinic where initially it looked as though his injuries were just scratches, but it soon became clear he was badly hurt.
"He was so shocked and couldn’t really walk," the mum added.
"He tried to vomit and couldn’t do that, he wouldn’t drink any water either.
"We took him to the emergency vet and they did a scan and found really really bad internal bleeding.
"So they opened him up and did surgery, his stomach and his liver were both torn which they stitched up.
"He was in emergency care overnight though and just didn’t cope and his heart stopped.
"These type of bulldogs... they need to be muzzled or they need to be on a lead and not anywhere near where kids are."
Anna, who has lived in the UK for eight years, added: "For me, he was a mental health dog. I’m having issues because of the war in Ukraine.
"My pregnancy was just after the war started and having this dog was like a dream. I’ve wanted to have a dog for so long.
"But he's Nikita's dog. He got him [as a gift] for passing his 11+ exams.
"I was about eight months' pregnant when we got him, and I thought by the time the new baby arrives my son will have a trained puppy dog and friend, so he doesn’t get so lonely when we have to spend more time looking after the baby."
She continued: "They would spend hours playing and training and feeding him. My son changed with the dog, it wasn’t just a friend but a responsibility as well. He could change Nikita’s mood in a second.
"Felix became part of the family and now it just feels so empty at home, so different."
Anna said she would be reporting the attack to the police in due course.
