The terror of seeing my dog attacked

I was walking with our one-year-old cavapoochon on the way back from the baker’s in Acton on Sunday morning when I spotted a man with two greyhounds coming towards me. At least, I think they were greyhounds. They looked like they’d been injected with steroids, making their muscles grow and pop and giving their faces ravenous, desperate expressions. ‘Just as well he’s keeping those dogs on the lead,’ I thought. Sure enough, as soon as they spotted Malinky they went crazy — barking, squealing, straining at the leash. Did they mistake her for a rabbit or a rodent of some kind? Mali looked terrified, as if she knew she’d been earmarked as a Scooby snack.

Then one of the beasts broke free and started bounding towards her, saliva spilling from its jaws.

I’ll return to this story in a moment but, to put it in context, a six-month-old chihuahua was killed by a boxer pitbull in Acton Park last month. The owners managed to separate them, but by then Bobby’s ribs and skull had been crushed. The vet couldn’t save him and now, on a nearby park bench, there is a little shrine to the poor fellow, complete with a bunch of flowers. The owner was understandably traumatised. She relayed the story on the local ‘Next Door’ group to warn others of the danger: ‘We will never get over this as he was our child. Devastated and heartbroken. He was a tiny happy little boy who loved everyone.’ She asked for witnesses to come forward, because the owner of the pitbull did a runner.

My next-door neighbour had a similar experience a few years ago.