Rider "petrified" as dog attacks horses (From Bournemouth Echo)

Rider "petrified" as dog attacks horses

8:51am Tuesday 16th March 2010 in

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A RIDER has told how two horses were subjected to a “petrifying” attack by a bull terrier dog.

Paula Atyeo-Pearson, 33, said the dog hung by its teeth from the neck of her friend’s horse before attacking her animal.

The dog’s owner says he has apologised and considered having the animal destroyed.

Mrs Atyeo-Pearson said: “The dog was hanging from the neck of my friend’s horse, Basset. It was the most horrendous thing I have ever seen. The horse was bucking and rearing.

“Then the dog came round the corner towards my horse, Charlie.

“He reared up and I ended up on the ground with a cut lip.

“It’s really put the wind up me. I was absolutely petrified.”

The mum-of-two was riding with friends in woods near Cranborne, known locally as Castle Hill, when the attack took place.

A grey bull terrier dog emerged from the trees and attacked the horses as they walked up a hill.

“We are all parents and ride down there regularly with our children.

“Two of our horses are 16 hands high and the other is 18 hands. Can you imagine what would have happened to a child on a 12-hander pony?

“It could have been fatal,” said Mrs Atyeo-Pearson.

But the dog’s owner, Andy Cox, denied that his pet was out of control, said he had helped to catch it, apologised to the riders, offered further assistance, and had not been contacted by them since.

The father-of-two said he had contemplated having the dog destroyed for his young family’s safety, but had been assured by a vet that its behaviour was consistent with puppies of any breed and unlikely to be repeated.

The dog had since been rehomed, he said.