A DOG is to be put down after biting the hands of a man who tried to stop it attacking his dog.

Christopher Hawkins, 46, of Abrahams Road, Henley, was walking his Parson Russell terrier Toby when the Staffordshire bull terrier-bulldog cross charged at them.

The dog’s jaws latched on to Toby, who is eight and deaf, and then it bit Mr Hawkins on both hands as he tried to get it off.

Police are investigating the incident, which happened in Hop Gardens, Henley, at about 10.30am on Thursday last week.

Several passers-by and a builder working nearby heard the commotion and ran over to help. The dog’s owner was nowhere to be seen.

Mr Hawkins said: “The dog came running over and it locked on to the side of my dog and wanted to kill him.

“I had my hand in its mouth and was punching it in the head to try to get it to stop. I was hitting the dog and it was having no effect. It just wanted to kill Toby.

“I have seen dogs bite before but this was just different. The dog was determined to kill him.

“A builder came out of one of the houses to help and it ended up with five or six people trying to help me stop the fight.

Other people were throwing water on it. There were a lot of people shouting — it was mayhem.”

The dog was finally brought under control when a woman came out of her house with a lead which she attached to the animal.

Mr Hawkins said: “I fear that if I’d been on my own and I didn’t have help to get the dog off, it would have killed Toby. Because he is deaf, he is quite vulnerable, which is a worry for me.”

The police were called but when no officers had arrived after 45 minutes the woman took the dog to a vet. Police then visited the vet and seized it under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

Mr Hawkins suffered three cuts to his left hand and one on his right hand.

He went to Townlands Memorial Hospital where a doctor applied iodine to his wounds as a disinfectant and he was given a tetanus injection as a precaution.

He then had an X-ray at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading on Monday. Toby was taken to the Oakley Veterinary Clinic in Caversham where he was checked over and prescribed painkillers to take once a day.

Mr Hawkins, a former builder who has lived in Henley for 11 years, said his pet was traumatised by the incident.

He said: “He backed into the corner and every time the vet came over to him and started to touch him, he would growl.

“He is in pain because every time I touch him in certain places he growls.

“Normally he is such a friendly little thing. People in the area know him and they know how sweet he is. He looks like the HMV dog.”

Police rang Mr Hawkins on Monday to say they had spoken to the owner who had agreed for the dog to be put down.

He said: “It is a bit sad but what else do you do with a dog like that? I love animals but that dog needs to be put down.”

He added: “I am really grateful to the people who stepped in and helped me because if I had been on my own, I am sure it would have been a different outcome.”

Thames Valley Police said no one had been charged in connection with the incident.