Pensioner hospitalised after she was attacked by neighbour’s dog
Jacqueline McGrew was hospitalised for two weeks after the attack.
A pensioner has been left ‘absolutely terrified’ and ‘panics’ every time she sees a dog in the street after being attacked by her neighbour’s out-of-control pet.
Jacqueline McGrew suffered serious bites to her face, head, arms, hand and back after she was attacked from behind by the Staffordshire bull terrier.
She’d gone to visit a friend on June 14 last year, but when she went into the garden the dog – called Kia – attacked her and only stopped when sprayed with a hosepipe.
Mrs McGrew, 76, was hospitalised for two weeks and had to have surgery on her head. She also suffered a broken nose, and the sight in her right eye was affected for a week.
The dog’s owner and Mrs McGrew’s neighbour, David Wilson, was charged with being the person in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury.
Kia has since been put down.
Mrs McGrew, from Blackburn in Lancashire, said: ‘I am absolutely terrified of any dog now. If I am on my mobility scooter and I see a dog, even across the road I freeze, I panic and I don’t know what to do.
‘I’m terrified that the dog might do something.
‘I have always loved animals, and I am having to change how I live my daily life.
‘When I’m at home, if I hear a dog barking I get really anxious, and I’m looking where my cats are and where the dog might be.’
Wilson, also from Blackburn, admitted the offence at Burnley Magistrates’ Court today. The 57-year-old is set to be sentenced on May 3.
DC Vicky Heys said: ‘These are some of the worst injuries I have seen in my time as a police officer, certainly from a dog attack.
‘One witness described Jacqueline’s screams as being harrowing, so this is something that has clearly impacted on the community as well.
‘I welcome the guilty plea and the fact that somebody has taken responsibility for this crime.’
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