Two hurt in separate dog attacks

Russell Parker changes his wife's dressing after the attack

Two people have been severely hurt in two separate dog attacks in Oxford.

A 65-year-old man, from Greater Leys, Oxford, was attacked by two pit bull terriers in the city's Grenoble Road area on Monday night, police said.

Officers said they were also investigating an incident in which a woman was seriously hurt by a Rottweiler in Blackbird Leys on Sunday.

Wendy Parker also said a man approached her and her husband to threaten them if they reported the attack.

Mrs Parker said she had been coming back from a family barbecue in Greater Leys to celebrate her nephew's first birthday, when she was attacked.

'Severe tingling'

A dog lying in the back of a blue Renault Scenic, apparently tethered to the car, leapt out of the open boot and bit her.

"My husband told me not to move," she said. "I panicked and just froze to be honest."

Mrs Parker said she felt a "severe tingling" sensation and sharp pain as the dog bit her and ran off.

She and her husband Russell said they were walking to the first house in Primrose Place to get help when they were approached by a man who threatened them and told them not to call emergency services.

"He offered to drive us anywhere we wanted as long as we didn't ring the ambulance or police. Wendy was bleeding and I said I still wanted to call ambulance and we had a heated exchange," Mr Parker said.

"He threatened me with violence but drove him and his dog away before the ambulance or police arrived".

Puncture wounds

The owner has since agreed for the RSPCA to seize his Rottweiler, but police believe someone else was looking after the dog at the time of the attack.

In the second attack on Monday night the injured man had been out walking his own Labrador cross, when he and his dog were attacked by the pit bull terriers, police said.

The man suffered deep puncture wounds to his arm and was undergoing surgery, police said. His dog was being treated for head wounds.

RSPCA inspector Douglas Davidson said: "If anyone is attacked by [a dog] it is a police matter to prosecute the perpetrator, the dog can be put under a control order or even destroyed."