Nunthorpe woman says husky 'may not walk again' after savage dog attack on Redcar beach

A woman whose dog was savagely attacked on a beach is calling on other owners to keep their animals on a lead following the incident, which also saw four people taken to hospital.

Marie Hay's dog, Naevia, was attacked by two other animals on Redcar beach.

The dogs were not wearing collars, which Ms Hay said meant they were unable to pull them off Naevia.

Naevia is currently undergoing serious surgery and vets are unsure whether she will walk again.

Ms Hay, from Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough, said: "It’s awful. It's like your child being in hospital.

"Where she is white and grey, you could see there was just blood all over. Even by the second bite, it was just everywhere, everybody was screaming.

"They were literally playing tug of war with her body - her limbs were just flopping all over the place."

In a message to other dog owners, she added: "Keep a collar on your dog. If he’d have had a collar on each one of those dogs, we could have put our hands underneath, pulled the dogs back and got Naevia out quicker.

"Because they didn’t have a collar on we had no way of holding on to them at all. We couldn’t get hold of them, they were so strong."

Ms Hay took her two daughters and Naevia to the beach on Sunday 5 February.

The 40-year-old said she was on the beach, in front of the Majuba road car park on the sea front, for no more than two minutes when two "bull type breed dogs" attacked her pet.

The mum-of-four said the dogs' owner had told her they were friendly.

She said the first dog sniffed at Naevia’s face, before latching on to her cheek and failing to let go.

Its owner ran over and managed to get the dog off and pin it to the floor but it jumped back up again and bit Naevia's chest.

The owner's second dog then latched on to Naevia’s face and the two animals pinned her to the floor, Ms Hay said.

She said: "I just can’t get the vision of her out of my head of her screaming and looking at me like 'mam why is this happening?'

"She’s just such a gorgeous, friendly dog. She didn’t even bite back or anything."

Members of the public were trying to help gain control of the dogs and eventually they were restrained using a harness and a piece of rope.

Following the incident, a man and three women are understood to have attended hospital for treatment, primarily with hand injuries.

Ms Hay's older daughter ran to their car with Naevia, at which point the dog was reportedly "almost unconscious".

Ms Hay said members of the public had rung the police.

She added: "The whole beach literally emptied, people were in fear that the dogs were going to turn on them."

Ms Hay has now started a Gofundme page to help cover Naevia's vet expenses - which could top £15,000. Her pet insurance only covers £4,000 for a single incident, she said.

Ms Hay is calling for dog owners to make sure their pet is insured and to put a collar on them.

She said: "I think if you have a dog it should be like a car or a house you should have your dog insured. If your dog bites another dog you should have your dog insured to pay for those vet bills.

"It is a legal requirement for a dog to have a collar on so even if he thought them dogs were friendly and nothing’s ever happened before, things might happen."

Ms Hay has been overwhelmed by the public support for her dog both during the incident and on her fundraising page.

She said: "I’m so thankful to the members of the public, I’m grateful they were there and even brave enough to try and intervene because the dogs were so savage.

"I’m so overwhelmed, every time I click on it, it’s people’s comment, no matter how much people are donating. It’s given me so much hope because there are so many people out there who are willing to help."

A Cleveland Police spokesperson said: "Police were called to the beach near the caravan park at Redcar just after 3pm on Sunday, 5th February to a report of a dog attack by two bulldog type pets on a husky.

"Officers attended the scene and took initial details including a counter allegation from the bulldogs’ owner. It’s understood at least one dog received veterinary treatment and a man and three women attended hospital for treatment - primarily for hand injuries.

"As part of ongoing enquiries we are obtaining more detailed accounts as well as details of any confirmed injuries to the dogs and people involved.

"Police have already spoken to a number of independent witnesses but would appeal for anyone who saw the incident or who may have footage of it to contact Cleveland Police on 101, quoting ref 022669."

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