Bull Mastiff Mauls Elderly Lady In Horrific Attack: ‘The Dog Was Chewing Flesh, Drinking Blood And Trying To Eat Her Alive’

A boxer-bull mastiff who mauled an elderly lady in a frenzied attack of brute savagery has been described by eye witnesses as “like something from a horror movie.”

When 60-year-old Kathleen Degg from Accrington, Lancs in the U.K, saw her neighbour’s bull mastiff prowling about in her back garden last July she went outside to to try and chase it away.

The bull mastiff didn’t take too kindly to being told to push off and in a blink of the eye it turned on Mrs Degg, knocked her to the ground, and proceeded to tear the skin off her back and legs in a sickening rage of bloody violence.

One of Mrs Degg’s other neighbours, Sarah Smith, 35, was alerted to the attack after she heard the most terrifying screams coming from outside. Sarah looked outside and wished she hadn’t, because in her own words, it appeared the bull mastiff was trying to tear Kathleen to pieces.

“I was upstairs and I heard the most horrifying screams coming from outside and saw the dog attacking Kathleen in her back garden. The dog was covered in blood and was tearing Kathleen to pieces. It was like the dog was trying to eat her alive. He was chewing on her flesh and drinking her blood. Kathleen couldn’t get away and the dog was prowling around her, as if it was a wild animal guarding his prey.”

The Express reported that another neighbour Wade Rushton, 18, threw a brick at the mastiff to get it to stop it’s attack.

“I came out because I heard somebody screaming. I went down the footpath and the dog was just chewing her up. She was defending herself, stabbing at the dog with a piece of plastic. The dog is usually dead friendly but it was just proper going, and would not stop.

“I came out with a knife because I was going to stab it, but people were saying, ‘no’, so I threw a brick instead. The dog was still biting her and there was blood everywhere.”

Much to eye witness Sarah Smith’s astonishment, during Mrs Degg’s hellish ordeal, the owner of the bull mastiff, Leah Major, had simply locked herself in her own house and refused to try and help the situation.

“Kathleen had managed to get to a path on the side of the house but she couldn’t escape. We were all trying to get the dog away from her but he wouldn’t let us come anywhere near and all this time Leah had locked herself inside the house and refused to come out. We couldn’t believe it.

“It was something like a horror movie and she seemed to be bleeding heavily from leg and shoulder injuries. I was shouting at Leah ‘sort your dog out’ but she never came outside. Eventually an ambulance arrived and scared the dog enough that they were able to get Kathleen in the back and shut the doors.

“When the police arrived they tried to catch the dog using a stick and a noose but they couldn’t get near it.By this stage the dog was still in the street. Everyone had been ordered to get inside and lock the doors. The police had to Taser the dog at least twice before they got it inside a dog handler’s car. It was so scary.”

Mrs Degg was rushed to Royal Preston Hospital where she spent two weeks undergoing surgery and numerous skin grafts. Recounting her nightmarish ordeal, Mrs Degg explained that she was horrified because when she looked down during the attack and could see the bone in her leg, she thought the bull mastiff was trying to eat her.

The dog’s owner Leah Major, signed a disclaimer relinquishing ownership of the bull mastiff, who was destroyed humanely by a vet.

Police believe the dog escaped into Mrs Degg’s gardens when its owners were repairing a fence.

During proceedings at Burnley Crown Court, Major’s lawyer Tim Brennand claimed Mrs Degg had a stick with her at the time of the dog’s attack, but the judge Mr Recorder Ian Harris said, “If Mrs Degg had a stick, whatever the reason, it’s perfectly fine. The dog was dangerously out of control.”

Major will be sentenced in July.

(Image Via Wikimedia Commons)