A DISTRESSED pet owner has called for urgent action to tackle dangerous dogs after his Jack Russell became the latest victim to be viciously attacked in the borough.

Civil servant Paul McGuinness, 34, was walking his beloved pooch Sparky through Lloyd Park in Walthamstow at around 1.30pm on Saturday (May 19) when a Pit Bull-like dog ran up and sunk its teeth into her neck.

"What happened makes me sick, and I keep veering between being outraged and heartbroken", said Mr McGuinness, who was walking his pet in the field at the north of the park.

“This other dog was fetching a ball but ran right past its owner without dropping it, so he hit it with a stick. It carried on running and that's when it attacked Sparky."

The dog, described as a small tan-coloured Pit Bull, only stopped when its owner pulled it off.

Sparky suffered severe injuries in the savage attack and is currently undergoing treatment at a vet in Wanstead.

Mr McGuinness said: "Sparky was limp and I said to the man 'you've killed my dog'.

"But astonishingly he became very belligerent and said it was my fault for coming onto 'his' territory.”

The man also reportedly said that his dog could not kill because its teeth had been filed down.

To his further amazement the dog owner then calmly resumed the game of fetch, before briefly confronting Mr McGuinness again when he called police and then making off.

The civil servant said he left the park around fifteen minutes later when officers failed to show up.

He added: “I'd like to see the dangerous dogs act toughened up and I'd like to see politicians take immediate action on this issue – and for the police to treat these incidents more seriously.

“If they had come quickly they could have caught this man and his dog.”

It is the latest in a string of violent incidents involving dangerous dogs in the borough.

A six-year-old girl had her ear ripped off by a Staffordshire bull terrier in Chingford back in January.

And in December a Jack Russell puppy was killed by a Pit Bull in the field behind Waltham Forest Town Hall.

A couple at the park are believed to have filmed or photographed the dog owner after the attack and the council is appealing for witnesses to come forward.

Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy has also appealed for witnesses on her Twitter page, something Mr McGuinness says he is very grateful for.

The Pit Bull's owner is described as being around 20 to 25 years old, approximately five foot eight tall, muscularly built, with short straight buzzed dark hair, stubble, of middle eastern perhaps black mixed race descent.

The dog had a studded diamond-like collar.

Those with information can contact Scott Cartwright at the council's Dog Enforcement Team on 0208 496 2225 or via email at Dogteam@walthamforest.gov.uk.

Alternatively call police on 101.

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