When Matt ran an errand to the post office with his little girl, they were suddenly in the jaws of despair…
I held out my hand and my little girl wrapped her fingers around mine.
‘See you soon,’ I smiled to my wife, Debs, as we headed out the door.
It was the school holidays and I was taking our daughter Lydia, six, to the post office with me to send a letter.
It was only down the road and as we walked, Lydia chatted away.
Around halfway there, I noticed a large, caramel-coloured dog standing on a drive.
Suddenly, it started walking purposefully towards us.
I expected its owner to be nearby but as I scanned the area, I couldn’t see anyone.
‘Whose dog is this?’ I called out, loudly.
I looked around again but within seconds, the dog had reached us.
In the blink of an eye it lunged at Lydia. In horror
I watched as its powerful jaw latched on to her arm.
I tried to grab the animal and pull it off my little girl.
But the dog lunged at her again, biting her a second, and third time.
Her screams pierced the air.
I tried to get in the dog’s
way, but it wasn’t interested in
me – just my terrified girl.
Desperate to stop the dog mauling her, I pushed my full weight on top
of it.
'Look what your dog's done!'
I shouted out for the owner, as I wrestled with the remarkably strong hound, that looked like a bulldog only bigger.
Blood poured from Lydia’s wounds as I tried to comfort
her too.
Eventually, the owner rushed out and called the dog inside, before heading back into the house.
The whole episode must have lasted only two minutes, but it felt so much longer.
An off-duty police officer
saw the commotion and stopped to help.
She banged on the neighbour’s door until they came out again.
‘Look what your dog’s done!’ I yelled, as Lydia cried.
The owner looked upset and I heard her say the words, ‘XL bully’.
That’s when the penny dropped…
Lydia had been set upon by a dangerous dog and a ban on owning them had recently come into force.
I remembered reading awful stories in the press about how the muscular dogs had been responsible for fatal attacks.
This is not good, I thought.
The owner explained the hound had escaped from the back garden through a side gate.
The off-duty officer, Lauren, was so helpful and recorded
an interview with the owner on her phone.
Then she ran us home, where
I quickly told Debs what’d happened.
Her eyes widened with shock as she saw Lydia’s injuries.
‘I’ve got to get her to hospital,’ I fretted.
‘Keep me posted on everything,’ she replied.
She had to stay home with our little boy, Asher.
Thankfully, once doctors checked Lydia’s puncture wounds and cleaned them, she calmed down.
The dog had latched on to her left upper arm, and it was covered in bites and scratches.
Her forearm was in a strange shape and badly bruised, but luckily, it wasn’t broken.
Meanwhile, Lauren had called the police and an officer took
a statement while we were at
the hospital.
The officer said they’d gone to the owner’s home and found the XL bully wasn’t registered, had been without a muzzle and was off its lead.
Police told me the dog would be destroyed that same day.
The XL bully’s owner was charged with allowing her dog to be dangerously out of control in public.
After Lydia’s injuries were dressed, we were discharged with antibiotics for her to take.
But although the scars would heal, I was worried about the emotional impact on Lydia.
We’d been proactive in the past and helped her to interact with dogs so she’d feel comfortable around them.
But after the attack, I was concerned she’d develop a fear.
‘The dog that bit you was a bad dog,’ I explained. ‘But not all dogs are bad.’
She nodded.
It had been a horrendous ordeal, but I was relieved it wasn’t worse.
She could have been killed.
The scenario kept me awake
at night, replaying in my mind.
'Not all dogs are bad'
The days and weeks that followed were tough for our family.
Lydia would scream every time her bandages needed changing.
We went on holiday to France and when she saw a dog, she jumped right into my arms.
Only, as time went on, although she was still wary, she got more used to them.
As long as they were on a lead, she stayed calm.
‘I still like little dogs,’ Lydia smiled.
‘But I don’t like dogs that look like the one that bit me,’ she added with a frown.
I found myself being ultra-cautious about dog owners too.
It’d never bothered me before, but now I hated seeing pets off their leads in public places.
Six months later, police told us the owner was given a 26-week suspended prison sentence, a 12-month community order and disqualified from keeping dogs for five years.
By then, Debs and I had forgiven the owner and our anger had faded.
‘She made a mistake and will have learned her lesson,’ I said to Debs.
But it left me with one burning question – why would anyone want to own one of those dogs?
One day, I was reading a BBC story online about another XL bully attack.
I tapped out a comment.
This happened to me and my daughter, too, I wrote.
Shortly after that, a journalist contacted me and offered me the chance to meet an XL bully owner, to get some answers.
So, I met Lily and her partner, along with their two-year-old XL bully, Doug, at a secure field near their home.
After getting out of the car, I felt nervous as I caught sight of the dog.
It took me right back to the day of the attack.
A chain-link fence separated us, but their rescue dog was well trained.
Still I kept thinking about my little girl, scared and bleeding.
We carried on talking and I felt happy to go inside the field, as long as Doug was muzzled.
‘I feel awful asking you to keep your pet away from me,’ I told Lily, feeling tense.
She was keen for me to see another side of XL bullies.
‘I firmly believe
a dog’s behaviour is dependent on how it was brought up and trained,’ she said. ‘These dogs need
so much mental stimulation, they are not easy dogs to own.’
After spending time with them, I found I had a lot of respect for Lily and her partner.
They’d done everything they could for Doug.
It was the people who owned these strong breeds to intimidate others, but didn’t take on the rest of the hard work, that were the issue.
‘These dogs are so powerful,’ Lily explained. ‘They’re so big and if you push them to be this big monster, then it can happen.’
‘You’ve saved him from falling into the wrong hands,’ I replied.
The XL bully ban came into force nearly two years ago, yet
it hasn’t stopped these attacks from happening.
I believe all owners of this breed should have a licence, to prove they’ve carried out the correct training – like Lily has.
Lydia is seven now, and her scars have healed well but she still has anxiety around large dogs.
I think back to that day often.
All I’d wanted was to take my girl for a walk.
But we were plunged into the jaws of a monster.
Matt Fairhead, 33, Wirral, Merseyside