Deer savages dogs - and no, this is not an April Fool joke

When it comes to a fight between a dog and a cute little deer, you would expect there to be no contest.

And you'd be right. Rover limps home with his tail between his legs - and some nasty gashes into the bargain.

An increasing number of dog-owners in rural Bedfordshire are reporting attacks by Chinese water deer, whose ancestors escaped Woburn Safari Park.

Attack: Perdita suffered deep lacerations on her back, belly and neck

Although the deer are less than 2ft tall and weigh a maximum of 31lb, the males have a secret weapon - downward-pointing fangs which can grow more than 3in long.

Latest victim was Perdita, a six-year-old Jack Russell out for a walk with Georgina Robey, 12, and her tenyearold brother Daniel. Perdita suffered cuts on her back, neck and both sides of her stomach after an encounter with a mystery predator.

Vicious bite: Chinese water deer males fight with tusks that grow up to 3in long

Local vet John Wakely tended to Perdita after the attack

It was only when the children's father Loren took the dog to a vet that they realised she had apparently fallen victim to a serial-attack deer. The same vet had already treated five dogs in a similar condition.

Mr Robey, a 43-year-old electrician, said his son and daughter came back 'distraught' from their walk in Ampthill Park, between Bedford and Luton, with Perdita bleeding from her wounds.

'My first thought was that she must have got caught in a barbed-wire fence but the vet put it down to Chinese water deer.'

John Wakely, of Ridgeway Veterinary Centre, Flitwick, said: 'In 30 years as a vet I have never seen this before. But I have treated three dogs in the past two weeks and two before Christmas.'

Mr Wakely has now put up notices in the park which warn dog owners to beware.

Ampthill park committee chairman Hector Chappell said a 'huge' Chinese water deer population had sprung up since they began to escape in the 1920s and 1930s.

'They breed throughout the year and are quite a menace. You don't normally see them except at dusk because they lie down during day as their natural colouring camouflages them in the long grass. If a dog disturbed them they would bite.'































































































