‘It was brutal’: Bull terrier dies after attacking smaller dog in Limerick city

A bull terrier type dog has died in Limerick after attacking a smaller dog who was being walked by a woman and her son on Tuesday evening.

A witness, who asked not to be named, said he and others went to shield the woman and child from the dog after it had “savaged” their pet at around 7pm in an estate in Castletroy.

He said the woman was “covered in blood” from the injuries suffered by her dog after she and another passerby tried to separate the animals. “Her dog had been viciously attacked and it’s back leg skin was missing, there was chunks taken out of its body.”

He said another man bravely came to the woman’s aid and “just threw himself into this incident and he could have been savaged”.

“He put himself in danger, it was brutal,” he said, adding it was a “lucky” that nobody was injured during the incident.

The bull terrier type dog died while being restrained by some of those who came to help, he said.

A Garda spokeswoman said the force was alerted to an incident involving two dogs at a residential estate in Castletroy on Tuesday evening.

“A dog which was in the control of its owner was attacked by a second dog,” she said. “No persons were injured during the course of the incident. The dog which was attacked was seriously injured. Investigations are ongoing in relation to this matter. The offending dog is now deceased.”

The witness said gardaí did not arrive on the scene until around an hour after they were alerted. He said the dog warden was contacted but there was no answer. “The gardaí were called three or four times and only that the dog that attacked was deceased at this stage, it could have been much worse.”

Garda sources confirmed that the “pit bull” type dog had been roaming loose in the area. The dog is understood to have been wearing a collar with a contact number for its owner on it.

It is the third known serious dog attack in Limerick in the last month. Nicole Morey was killed by her Staffordshire Bull Terrier dogs in Fedamore on June 4th. Eight-year-old Jackson Flynn suffered serious facial injuries when he was bitten by a dog in a park on May 29th.

Limerick City Fine Gael TD Kieran O’Donnell, who attended at the scene last night after being contacted by residents, said he wanted to “ensure that people feel safe, that dogs are kept under control and that everyone can go about to daily lives without fear”.

He said Minister for Community Affairs Heather Humphreys is due to meet an expert group established on the issue of dog control on Wednesday and that whatever recommendations come forward will be taken very seriously to “ensure that we have a society where dogs are kept under control and people feel safe”.