A young pet owner is devastated after her dog was viciously attacked and had to be put down.
India walked her nine-year-old Wheaten terrier Minty in an unescorted section of Centennial Park in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in September.
She told me Yahoo News She and her mother were walking Minty and their dachshund Tilly when a cattle dog suddenly jumped out of a car and ran towards them.
‘(Tilly) is regularly attacked, so we are constantly on alert for dogs approaching her.’
‘But that day this cattle dog just jumped out of his car, and although he seemed quite calm at first, about two seconds later he quickly started looking for Minty – who looked a bit like a sheep.’
She said the cattle dog aimed for Minty’s hind legs and then “took her from underneath.”
‘When Minty tried to scramble away, he bit the top of her neck, causing… [momentarily] paralyzed her.’
India and her family said a tearful farewell to their beloved Minty, a Wheaten terrier, on Tuesday (stock image)
India said the owner ran away after the attack and called after the cattle dog.
They took Minty home and initially she did not appear to be seriously injured.
‘Overnight, and from then on, she deteriorated rapidly. She couldn’t walk, she dug holes in the backyard and ran away,” India said.
Before the attack, Minty was a very people-oriented dog, but after the savage encounter she kept to herself.
Although Minty was on strong pain medication, the vet said she would never recover from the trauma of the attack and had no quality of life because she could not walk.
It was recommended that the most humane option was to euthanize Minty and end her suffering.
The family said a tearful farewell to Minty on Tuesday.
“I’ve never experienced such heartbreak,” she said.
Devastated by the loss of her beloved Minty, she wants to raise awareness of the dangers of untrained, loose dogs.
‘I don’t blame the dog, I blame the owner. It’s never the dog’s fault. He should have been properly trained or kept on a leash.”
Centennial Park is one of the most dog-friendly parks in Sydney, with more than 30 percent of the Parklands’ open space off-leash.
The Centennial Parklands The website states that a person ‘must not take any animal (being an animal not prohibited from being on Trust grounds) unless it is under the effective control of a competent person by means of an adequate chain, cord, leash or cage.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Greater Sydney Parklands for comment.
Centennial Park is one of the most dog-friendly parks in Sydney, with more than 30 percent of the Parklands’ open space dedicated to off-leash areas (stock image)
