Dogsey

Mary Towns, 54, was walking her dogs Harvey and Brie in a field near her house in Shiremoor, North Tyneside on Monday evening when the terrier came bounding towards them.

With no owner in sight, the dog began tearing into 10-year-old Harvey and bit Ms Towney's hand as she tried to intervene and she was only saved when a group of teenagers stepped in.

The dental nurse explained: 'It was about 6.30pm and I was walking in a field I often go to so I can throw a tennis bell, and I often see other dog walkers, but not that night.

Then out of nowhere this Staffordshire cross came streaking across the field towards us.

At first I thought it had come to play, but actually it had one thing in its mind and that was to attack Harvey again and again. There was no owner in sight, no lead and no collar.

The attack lasted about 10 minutes, while her four-year-old black Labrador ran off and found her way home.

Kai Mitchell, Max Sherwood, Ryan Cooke - all 13 - and 14-year-old Ethan Dembry-Edwards came to her rescue and called emergency services when they realised she didn't have a phone.

The boys also attempted to flag down help from a nearby road before officers were able to arrive on the scene and stop the animal.

It was later put down after officers decided it was a danger to the public and no owner came forward.

Mrs Towns suffered only minor injuries and bruising, but Harvey was left with more than a hundred bite marks on and around his neck leaving her and husband David with a £1,000 vets bill.

It was a good thing my smaller dog escaped because she would have been killed without a question of a doubt,' she added. 'There was so much blood.'

'Harvey was very lucky and now he is back at home with antibiotics and pain killers we are hoping he will make a full recovery in time.

I would like to say a huge thank you to the boys who helped me as I don't know what I would have done otherwise.

'People can be quick to moan about teenagers, but their families should be very proud because they could have just walked by and done nothing, but they stopped and helped.'

She added: 'People breed these animals and don't think about other people or the animals themselves.

'Dogs aren't born bad. It is people's handling of them that makes them bad. From my point of view, there is now a dangerous dog off our streets.

'I am an adult, but I could have been walking with my grandchild or there could have been young children around.

'This won't stop me walking my dogs as I have all my life, but I will always take my phone with me from now on.'