A landlord and his dog sustained long-lasting injuries after they were brutally attacked on a Sunday afternoon walk.

Saffron Walden Reporter: David ShipleyDavid Shipley (Image: Archant)

David Shipley, 52, said he was taking a walk with his wife Juliana, 49, and Shar Pei Kai, when they were attacked by a fellow dog-walker’s pet on Fishmarket Street in Thaxted, earlier this month.

“I saw a lady with a dog quite some distance away,” said Mr Shipley of The Plough, High Street, Great Chesterford. “We’ve had a fair few problems with my dog being attacked recently, so we more or less stood still until they passed. Their dog, a black mongrel, was quite far ahead of the owner, not on the lead.

“Then it just attacked Kai, and I got between them – if I hadn’t it’d have killed Kai. I pushed the other dog away, and he attacked me,” added Mr Shipley, was bitten on his left shoulder through two layers of clothing, and sustained an injury to the little finger on his left hand which needed 30 stitches.

An ambulance was called to the scene and Mr Shipley was taken to A&E at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, while Kai, whose face had been bitten by the attacker, was taken to the vets.

Between them, David and Kai, who turns 12 today, received 70 stitches following the incident on Sunday, October 5.

Mr Shipley’s tendon was severed and the bone broken. He will be starting physiotherapy in a couple of weeks’ time.

“They’ve put a steel pin in there to keep it immobile until the tendon has healed,” he said.

Mr Shipley said the owner of the attacking dog assumed no responsibility, and refused to give her address. He claimed the police had also been “negligent” as they had failed to correctly identify the attack as a criminal matter.

“Until I challenged them about it they didn’t take any statements or evidence, so even after they had opened it as a case, they didn’t have enough details to go forward with it, and have now dropped it,” said Mr Shipley.

“We obviously feel very nervous when we take Kai out for a walk now. Kai has been the victim of so many attacks now, I think other dogs just sense the fear. But that doesn’t excuse that owners should have their dogs under control.”

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “Officers investigated the incident but concluded that it was a civil matter rather than criminal, and there was no further police action. If the man wishes to make a complaint in relation this he is advised to contact the Professional Standards Department.”