Never miss a thing from Belfast and beyond - sign up for FREE updates direct to your email inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A pensioner attacked by a ‘pitbull’ as he tried to protect his tiny Shih-Tzu, said the vicious dog should be “shot”.

Tom Bowers, his wife Agnes and precious pooch Roxie, six, were out for their usual walk when the snarling beast struck yesterday morning.

Both he and Roxie were bitten in an attack that continued for 20 minutes on a North Belfast street , before Good Samaritans came to their aid just before noon.

Tom told Belfast Live: “I really would not like this to happen anybody else.

“We do the same route every day and when my wife’s off she comes too.

“Today I spotted the dog coming towards us and we walked out onto the road to avoid it, but as soon at it got past my wife shouted at me to grab Roxie because it made for me and the dog.

“He (the owner) just had no control over it and every time he got it again it just made it’s way off.

“My wife was out in the middle of the road stopping traffic to see if anybody could help - she actually stopped the sightseeing bus and he said ‘is there anything I can do’.

“My wife says ‘have you got a fire extinguisher?’

“There was no way this dog was giving up until he killed our wee dog.

“It went for the dog and when it wasn’t getting it, it just went for me.”

Tom said he would have done anything he could to save wee Roxie, but added that the attacker’s owner “just stood there oblivious”.

Both the 72-year-old and his precious “wee dog” needed medical treatment following the “shocking” attack.

He added: “Roxie had to go to the vet. They said there’s teeth marks and her wee front paw and back hind quarter are all cut.

“They sedated her, but she’s eating now.”

As for Tom, he “had to go to the hospital” to get five fingers and his arm “all patched up”.

“He bit underneath my upper arm, where the muscle is. He was holding on to it.

“I had to get a tetanus injection because the dog bit. My hands were bad, but they said you can’t stitch a dog bite.

“I was shaking it trying to get it off and eventually he dropped off,” he continued.

“I am not really afraid of dogs, which is a good thing, but another five minutes and I couldn’t have held on to the wee dog.

“It’s not worth thinking about what could have happened to her, but there was no way I was letting go.

“My wife was shattered. She was just petrified and we couldn’t get rid of the dog.”

After 15 minutes - 20 mins a kind taxi driver stopped and drove the couple and Roxie away from the area for free.

Tom added: “If that had have been a child God help them or a woman walking the dog - what chance have you?

“We have reported it to the dog warden and police.”

The couple’s daughter Tamy said mum Agnes described the dog’s owner as white.

She added: “He was wearing a cap and didn’t speak much English at all, my mum doesn’t even think the dog was being called a name - because he barely spoke and when he did it wasn’t English.

“No exaggeration, my mummy said it must have tried to attack them at least 20 times.

“She said that dog was definitely out to kill and the lead didn’t even fit round it.

“She was crying out for people on the road to come and help.

“A couple of people did come and help and she wanted to thank those people because she never got their names.”

A PSNI spokesperson said: “Shortly after 11.20am this morning, Friday 21 June, Police received a report that a dog had been attacked by another dog in the Whitla Street area of Belfast.

“The matter has now been passed through to the local dog warden, who will be carrying out an investigation.”

How to follow us on social media Here's our main Belfast Live Facebook page. On Twitter, you can follow our account by clicking here. If you're a lover of photos, then check out our Instagram. We've also got dedicated Facebook pages for North, South, East and West Belfast, as well as courts and crime. Sports fans can find all the latest local action over on our Belfast Live Sport Facebook and Twitter and also on Match Online on both Facebook and Twitter.

Keep up-to-date with all the very latest news, what's on, sport and everything else in Belfast and beyond with the Belfast Live app.

Only select news that interests you by picking the topics you want to display on the app's homepage. Plus, our enhanced user experience includes live blogs, video, interactive maps and slick picture galleries. Download it now and get involved.

Click here to get it from the App Store or here for Google Play .