My arm and leg had been ripped off by two rottweilers… I can not even wash myself however the council is REFUSING to assist me
A pensioner who had his arm and leg ripped off by two rottweilers has blasted the local council for not giving him any financial help.
Wheelchair-bound Vic Franklin was ‘devastated’ when Adur District Council told him he was not eligible for grants to adapt his home
The 79-year-old’s injuries are so severe he struggles to perform basic tasks like making meals and washing.
His life was turned upside down after two ‘bored’ rottweilers mauled him during a savage 11-minute attack in August 2023.
Nineteen months on, Mr Franklin’s two sons are still trying help the pensioner recover from the trauma.
But the grandfather-of-four, who, before the attack, cared for his wife, Sheila, 73, claims this has been made almost impossible by the current state of their three-bed terrace in Bognor Regis, West Sussex.
Mr Franklin says he desperately needs financial support to install a wet room and stair lift in his home.
However, funding was allegedly denied by the council because he has a private pension.
Lee Franklin, pictured, has been denied support from Adur District Council to install a disabled wet room and stair lift in his home
Vic Franklin, 78, was left ‘covered with blood’ and ‘not moving’ following the savage 11-minute attack carried out by two large canines called Ziggy, four, and Daisy, one in Bognor Regis in August 2023
A heartbreaking video interview with Mr Franklin sees the pensioner describe the helplessness he felt before the attack and how his life has been ‘turned upside down’
Mr Franklin told MailOnline: ‘I was devastated to hear that I wasn’t entitled to any compensation from the attack or help from the local council.
‘I live in a micro-environment in my living room with no access to a bathroom to shower, or toilet.’
‘Apart from going to the hospital for rehabilitation, I spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week, staring at the same 4 walls.’
‘The home now needs major renovations, and there simply isn’t any help available.
‘We are solely relying on the generosity of our local community and local businesses for help and support – I cannot put into words how thankful I am’
Sons Lee and Neil have helped their father in every way they can since the horrific attack.
Lee said: ‘We don’t claim benefits. We’re a working family. Up until now we have had very little help from the council.
‘We have relied on a lot of friends and a neighbour did a Gofundme and that raised over £4,000 which allowed us to have the front of the property with a concrete ramp to allow for his wheelchair and to widened the door way for his wheelchair and new back doors which both open up in case of a fire so he can get out from the back.
‘I have to do all the shopping, and my wife has changed her working hours and we’re constantly battling with doctors surgeries to get prescriptions and there is always something to do.
‘Me and my brother have done all we can and it’s getting to the point where we can’t do much else.
Mr Franklin’s son, Lee said: ‘We don’t claim benefits. We’re a working family’
‘[My father] lives in the living room of the house, he is washed, he goes to the toilet there and sleeps there. We need a stair lift which would enable him to have a private space upstairs.
‘At the moment, we shower him by picking him up and taking him to the bathroom to wash him.
‘But because he has gained weight, it has become quite hard for me to wash him.
‘He needs a disabled wet room conversion in the house so he can wash and shower.’
To try to support the couple, the family have set up a GoFundMe fundraiser as well as organised a quiz night.
As well as the wet room and a stair lift, they’re also looking to buy Mr Franklin a mobility scooter and his garden landscaped for him to be able to enjoy.
The fundraiser said: ‘Dad is old-school, proud and determined not to let this get him down, as a family we just want him to be comfortable, and his complexed needs to be catered for, we believe he deserves a good standard of life and enjoy the rest of his days in happiness.’
The attack on August 18, 2023, happened near Mr Franklin’s home and left him ‘covered with blood. ‘
When the neighbour went outside, he saw the pensioner being ‘mauled by the two Rottweilers, whose faces were covered in blood, while his dog was ‘shaking’
Mr Franklin was rushed to hospital and his injuries were both ‘extensive and very severe’, resulting in him requiring emergency resuscitation
If it hadn’t been for the help of a neighbour who tried to bat the dogs away with a spirit level, the retired security guard would have died in the ambush, Portsmouth Crown Court previously heard.
Neighbours reported that the animals, called Ziggy and Daisy – who lived outside in the garden – were often spotted ‘roaming around’ and ‘showing their teeth’ at by-passers, Prosecutor Ellie Fargin told the court.
Neighbour James Jones’s wife shouted ‘there’s a man being attacked by a dog’ which prompted him to grab a long spirit level and go outside.
When he went arrived at the scene, he saw Peggy ‘shaking’ while Mr Franklin was being mauled by the two Rottweilers, whose faces were ‘covered in blood’.
The neighbour said Ziggy was ‘chewing something that looked like skin’ and said it was the most ‘unpleasant and unnerving site he has seen’.
‘The police attended and got there as fast as they could,’ Ms Fargin said.
‘They described seeing Mr Franklin in the floor with what they said was serious injuries.
‘[They said] it looked like he had been ripped to shreds. He was covered in blood and not moving.’
Chloe Taylor and Matthew Roberts outside Portsmouth Crown Court, Hants
Mother of five Chloe Taylor, 27, was sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court, Hants, where it was heard that herself and partner Matthew Roberts, 30, had been ‘repeatedly’ warned about the aggressive nature of their pets
The prosecutor said ‘shots were fired’ at the two dogs which prompted one to run off. They have now both been destroyed.
She told the court that Mr Franklin was taken to Brighton Hospital and his injuries were both ‘extensive and very severe’, resulting in him requiring emergency resuscitation.
Mr Franklin later said he could not remember much of the dreadful mauling, only that he woke up in Brighton Hospital.
The court heard there had been ‘reports’ made by members of the public about the ‘behaviour’ of two Rottweilers.
The prosecutor said the ‘culmination’ of these was that they had been ‘left roaming free’, ‘they had been showing their teeth’, and they had ‘concerns about the welfare of them as they were living outside’.
Ms Fargin said that both a dog charity and the district council tried to intervene but were unsuccessful.
It was heard the council made contact three times following complaints from neighbours.
After admitting being in charge of dogs who were ‘dangerously out of control’, Taylor – whose oldest child is 11 – was sentenced to 27 months in prison while her partner escaped with a suspended sentence
Owners Matthew Roberts, 30 and Chloe Taylor, 27, denied receiving any ‘official warnings’ from the council and maintained that the dogs were looked after.
They pleaded guilty to a charge of being the owner or person in charge of a dog dangerously out of control and causing injury.
Jeffrey Lamb, mitigating, said Mr Roberts was away working in Leicester on the day of the attack while Ms Taylor was in hospital.
‘These two dogs, Daisy and Ziggy, were very well looked after – it’s disputed by both that there were issues pertaining to the dogs,’ he said.
It was heard that Mr Roberts had taken the dogs for a walk the day before he left for Leicester and had ‘played no part in looking after the dogs’.
Taylor – whose oldest child is 11 – was sentenced to 27 months in prison while her partner escaped with a suspended sentence.
A spokeswoman for Adur District Council said: ‘We understand the importance of Disabled Facilities Grants in helping residents to live safely and independently at home.
‘In this instance we regret that we were unable to approve the grant application because it did not meet the necessary eligibility criteria due to it being a means tested grant.
‘Each application is carefully assessed against national guidelines to ensure that funding is allocated fairly.
‘We have recently been contacted on behalf of Mr Franklin and we are currently considering alternative support options that may be available.’
