A rider who was attacked by an out-of-control dog believes he would have been killed had he not been carrying a whip.
Adam Walker was returning from a hack on his 23-year-old gelding Jaws, with Laura Evans riding rescue pony Tess, on 1 January, when they saw a man who appeared to be looking for a dog at Camp Hill, Nuneaton, in Warwickshire.
“We were at the top of the hill and eventually I saw a Staffordshire bull terrier appear beside the man and I thought he had hold of it, so we started making my way down the hill,” Adam told H&H.
“All of a sudden the dog came charging at us flat out from 30 feet away. It was completely out of control and baring its teeth.”
Adam said the dog was biting at Jaws’ legs.
“Jaws went berserk and I came off,” he said. “Then the dog turned on me while I was on the floor. I still had hold of Jaws and I hit the dog with my whip, and it went back to Jaws and was jumping up at his stomach and biting his legs. All that dog wanted to do was kill, you could see it in its eyes.
“Jaws then double-barrelled the dog, I heard a crack and the dog whimper. At first I thought Jaws had broken his leg, but I think it was the dog who was injured. It then ran towards Laura and Tess, but Laura was able to get off and had her whip in her hand and the dog ran off.”
Adam said although the dog’s owner apologised and asked if they were ok, he made no attempt to get hold of the dog during the attack, and he left the scene after it happened.
“I busted my ankle and had rip marks on my coat, but Jaws thankfully wasn’t badly injured. He had some scratches but because he was kicking out I don’t think the dog could get a proper hold of him,” he said.
“We walked the horses home and immediately reported it to the police and the British Horse Society.”
Adam and Laura have been out with Jaws and Tess since the incident, but Adam said he cannot describe how “traumatised” he was by the attack.
“I swear had I not had my whip and if that dog had got its mouth round my neck, it would have killed me. It meant what it was doing and would have shown no mercy,” he said.
“Every time Jaws hears a dog barking he jumps and he seemed really traumatised for the first few days after the incident but he’s getting better.”
Adam would like to see tougher laws surrounding out-of-control dogs.
“The Government has to do something about irresponsible dog owners and dangerous dogs. I read about France bringing in certificates to own horses, and while I think it would be great to have that for horses here, we should also be doing it for dogs,” he said.
“I’m glad Laura and Tess weren’t injured, especially after all the hard work we’ve put into Tess, but nobody should be put in that position.”
A spokesman for Warwickshire Police said the force was aware of the incident. Anyone with information should contact 101, quoting incident 207 of 1 January.
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