Marion Taylor and John Bickley from Wolverhampton speak to the Express & Star about their traumatic moment when they were attacked by two dogs and their owner, whilst walking their dog at Sandwell Valley Park, West Bromwich.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00OK, so Marion and John and Milo here, you've been the victims really, haven't you, of quite
00:07a serious attack while you were walking Milo at, was it Sandwell Valley Park?
00:13Sandwell Valley Park, yeah.
00:14Just explain what happened Marion.
00:17We were walking the dog along Swan Lake and we were approached by two big enormous brown
00:24dogs with their owners, which was a 60 odd year old man and his daughter, and the two
00:32dogs saw Milo and decided to have a go at Milo, and so the two big dogs were circling
00:40round John while Milo was at his feet, so John picked Milo up and held him up in the
00:47air so the dogs couldn't get him, but the two dogs were jumping up John and the one
00:53jumping up at the front of John was a bit too close to his face, so I actually kicked
00:59the dog away and grabbed it by the collar, and then the gentleman who owned the dog came
01:06along and kicked me, and because I was still holding his dog, he was punching me and demanding
01:15I let go of his dog.
01:16So rather than trying to help and pull the dogs away, he was attacking you as well?
01:21Yeah.
01:22That's dreadful.
01:23Yeah.
01:24So he kicked me three feet into a bush, and so of course John's still got the dog in the
01:30air and I'm on the floor, and he disappears quickly with the dogs once I'd let go, and
01:36his daughter was the only one left really, so she was apologetic and she left as well,
01:44so I did tell her I was going to report it though, but you don't expect to walk around
01:48Sandmore Valley Park, which is beautiful.
01:50They had two young children with them as well.
01:53That's frightening isn't it really?
01:55Who witnessed their grandfather kicking a man around.
01:59That's awful.
02:00I mean what was the thing?
02:02This is it, so when you see big dogs now you're automatically afraid because this happens
02:09so often, and so anybody walking around Sandmore Valley and you see big dogs, I would be very
02:15wary about walking past them, I really would.
02:18Yeah, I mean it must have shaken you up really, shook you to tears.
02:22I did yeah, and very shaken and I've not slept properly since, to be honest, so.
02:28Do you think you'll be walking Milo around there at all?
02:31I doubt it very much indeed, I don't, because it was so busy, it'd been a lovely day, and
02:39there were so many dogs, but most of them were on leads, most of them were smaller,
02:43these two were off the lead on their own.
02:46Not muzzled?
02:47Not muzzled.
02:48And they weren't doing anything, like the girl was trying to call them off, but he wasn't,
02:57and basically they just ran at us and attacked both of us.
03:01Dreadful, dreadful.
03:02Have you managed to take Milo a walk anywhere else since then, or has it affected how you
03:07feel taking Milo a walk now?
03:09We took him out yesterday morning for a short walk in a local area, and unfortunately he's
03:16been affected himself, because he's barking at every dog that goes past him now, and I
03:21think he's kind of upset by the incident as well, because this one is...
03:26Yeah, it must have affected Milo quite a lot as well, mustn't it?
03:29Yeah, well this is it, I mean he's a sweet little dog, he's no trouble, he's very calm,
03:33placid, very friendly, but all of a sudden he's barking at every dog that walks past,
03:38which is not like him.
03:41So he's been affected as well.
03:43Yeah, I mean it's awful to think what could have happened, John, if you hadn't been there
03:47to pick Milo up, you know, if Milo had been running round the field or something.
03:51Two really large dogs like that would have torn him apart, I'm quite convinced.
03:55Yes, yes, absolutely.
03:57Definitely.
03:58Yeah.
03:59So lastly again, you just want to warn people, you know.
04:01Oh God, yeah, be very wary, see.
04:03Be very vigilant.
04:04For all we know, if you've got a gentleman who is so prone to violence as this one obviously
04:09is, it's probably not the only occasion.
04:13Yes.
04:14So if there's anybody round Sandwell Valley Park and they know of a father and a daughter
04:21and her two young kids and two large, tan, American bulldog type animals.
04:28Yeah.
04:29Yeah.
04:30Might be worth having a chat with the police about it really.
04:33Yeah, because this sort of thing can't carry on.
04:35No.
04:36Definitely.