A man has described the horror moment a suspected XL bully mauled his hand as he sat on a park bench.
Dog-loving 49-year-old Gualberto Ramirez sat down on a bench in Wormwood Scrubs in west, London, when the animal set upon him. He reportedly had to strangle the dog, which was accompanied by two people and another dog that looked like a Pomeranian, MyLondon reports.
The XL bully, dark in colour, allegedly had no muzzle or lead, despite these being two key stipulations on having the dogs in public places under recent law in England.
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The customer service worker from White City thought the dog was initially coming over for a stroke but he soon realised its intentions were far less friendly.
(Image: MyLondon/BPM MEDIA)
“I realised it was not stopping, it was coming to get me,” Mr Ramirez said, “I saw the aggression, it was in defence mode. All of this happened so quickly. It chomped on my right hand. Once it released my hand, I then grabbed the dog by the neck with both my hands and that disabled him in a way. It’s the first time I have really done something like that.”
Afterwards, he said he was left upset by the incident. “It was scary, it’s just one of those things I would never expect to happen to me, being a dog lover. It’s really upsetting,” Mr Ramirez said, “I was angry at the owners immediately in that moment because I felt like the dog was just doing what the dog does.”
He said the woman initially offered to call an ambulance but not off her phone. After a while, he claims the couple allegedly disappeared.
“It was suspicious,” Mr Ramirez said.
(Image: Getty Images)
He also claimed that police failed to take a statement or investigate the issue. “That did not sit with me well”. He said when Hammersmith and Fulham Council were notified about the attack, the Met id take a full statement and begin investigating, he claimed.
“There’s part of me that’s not hopeful there’s going to be a resolution,” said Mr Ramirez, “But seeing the news [about other XL Bully attacks] and being a victim now, I feel it’s a real issue… I see other XL bully dogs being walked with no muzzle on. Why is the legislation not working? Why have there been other attacks? It’s still a hot topic that needs to be worked out.”
On Monday (June 3), Scotland Yard confirmed it had received resorts of a dog attack ‘believed to be an XL Bully’, with a spokesperson adding: “Enquiries into the circumstances continue”.
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