Appeal for witnesses after dog mauled in Clayhall dies

Milo and Jamie. Picture: Sharanya Kumar (Image: Archant)

Sharanya Kumar, 25, told the Recorder her seven-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Jamie, was viciously attacked by another dog in Redbridge Recreational Park, in Woodford Bridge Road, on Monday, March 18.

The dog’s skull was fractured and its neck tissue was torn apart in the attack.

Sharanya said she rushed Jamie to the Queen Mother Hospital for Small Animals in Hatfield for treatment where he underwent surgery the next day. At first the spaniel seemed to be recovering but the following day, Jamie went into cardiac arrest and died.

Sharanya, of Babbacombe Gardens, Clayhall, described Jamie as: “Such a character, always yapping, such a lively dog, always running. He was really clever and super cheeky.”

Sharanya said that her dad Sellathurai, 69, had taken Jamie and Milo, a yellow labrador, to the nearby park for their afternoon walk with his daughter Dhivya.

Dhivya, 30, was playing catch with Jamie when an unleashed light brown dog, believed to be a Staffordshire bull terrier, came over and took the ball.

Dhivya and Jamie went over to get the ball back while its owner sat on a bench.

Sharanya said the terrier suddenly attacked Jamie and gripped the spaniel’s neck in its teeth for more than five minutes.

She said the owner shouted: “Let it go, let it go.”

The terrier also bit Dhivya’s hand as she tried to help Jamie.

Sharanya said her father used Milo’s lead to drag the dog off Jamie and said the owner then shouted “your dog’s dead” before running away with the terrier and Milo’s leash.

Dhivya said she had encountered the owner with his dog on the morning of the incident.

The man allegedly told her he had just got the dog and could not control him.

The family would like help identifying the dog’s owner.

He is described as a bald white man around 5ft 5in, and was wearing a blue two-piece tracksuit with white stripes.

A Met Police spokeswoman confirmed officers are investigating.

Ewan Mackintosh, 54, of Upton Park, who runs Dog Behaviourist and Owner Training, said: “You should never let a dog off a lead until you take the dog to the park and find out his reaction to other dogs.”

He added: “The owner was totally out of order not having the dog on a leash.”

Sharanya said: “What if this had happened to a child?

“I believe parents and dog owners need to hear about the struggles my dog faced due to the ignorance of one man, to keep our future generation and adored pets safe for a safer neighbourhood.”

Met Police recorded 1,585 dog attack offences in 2017-18, 48 of them occurring in Redbridge. The number of offences has risen more than 10per cent from last year.

If you have any information about what happened, email sharanya-k@hotmail.co.uk