Escape from the jaws of death
Thursday, 19 June 2008
A THREE-year-old boy narrowly avoided being mauled to death in Antrim, after two savage pit bull type dogs tore him from his mother's grasp and tried to drag him under a fence.
The horrific incident occurred as the boy was walking with his mother on Queens Road last week, and the frantic woman had to engage in a terrifying tug-of-war with the two animals, who had gripped her son by his ankles through a gap under the fence, and were intent on pulling him through to almost certain death.
Miraculously, the mother managed to wrench the screaming toddler back to safety, as the slavering beasts bit and scratched his legs and barked furiously at having lost their prey. The near-tragedy, which saw a simple morning stroll turn into a mother's worst nightmare, prompted Antrim Dog Wardens to immediately remove the two unlicensed terriers from their owner and have them destroyed.
This latest dog attack has once again brought 'dangerous dogs' to the forefront of local news, following a year which saw the conclusion of the long-running Mid-Antrim Animal Sanctuary case, and a spate of attacks on both humans and animals by dogs believed to be outlawed pit bull breeds.
Speaking to the Antrim Guardian in the aftermath of the shocking attack, the boy's father, Stiles resident Winston Graham, and his fiancé Susan relayed details of the heart-racing struggle to save their son's life, and fears that lives were put at risk by the two dogs being allowed to roam around their owner's garden with a substantial gap under the fencing.
Susan was returning with three-year-old Conrad towards their Stiles home after walking older brother Deon to school when, as they passed the fence, with the toddler holding his mother's hand, Susan suddenly felt a violent jerk, as Conrad's leg was gripped in the powerful jaws of one of the dogs which had poked its muzzle out from underneath.
