A PENSIONER had to battle a Staffordshire bull terrier with his stick after it grabbed his dog by the throat during an evening walk in Weaverham.

Fliss, a five-year-old bichon frise, was left with a ripped windpipe and oesophagus and puncture wounds all over her skull in the attack, which happened close to her home in Walnut Avenue.

Owner Jack Harker, 81, said: “This Staffordshire bull terrier came at me like a rocket out of nowhere.

“Fliss has got puncture wounds round her oesophagus and trachea where the other dog got hold of her and she couldn’t breathe very well.

“Her screams were awful.

“There was a whole crowd of people came out.

“I was thumping the other dog with my stick.

“One man stopped his van and was hitting the dog with a pole and another young man who had tough boots on gave it a kick and that got it off.”

The attack happened at 6pm on Monday, July 28, and Fliss was released from Willows Veterinary Hospital on Thursday.

She only began eating again on Saturday.

Jack said: “She wouldn’t eat or drink, she’s traumatised.”

The incident was reported to the police but, as reported in last week’s Guardian after an attack in Winsford, there is little officers can do when a dog attacks another dog.

They are only obliged to intervene if an attack involves a person or if repeated incidents justify action under anti-social behaviour legislation.

In this incident police officers from Northwich’s Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) have spoken to both dog owners.

The owner of the Staffordshire bull terrier has apologised and has been offered advice from the dog warden.

Campaigners across England and Wales are fighting for the country to follow Scotland’s lead and introduce Dog Control Notices, which grant local authorities powers to tackle all aspects of dog related crime, such as illegal breeding and ownership and training of ‘status dogs’.

Jack, who is already facing a £400 vets’ bill after the incident, agreed that the law needed to change.

He said: “It’s disgraceful if at 81 years of age you can’t walk your dog in your own area without being attacked.”