A MUM has told of the terrifying moment she fought an 80lb XL bully off her four-year-old as it chomped on her tot’s face.
Amy Hobson, 32, from Nuneaton, Warwickshire, watched in horror as her neighbour’s dog attacked her daughter Luna-Ann after she petted the dog.
The little girl is the latest victim in a string of XL Bully attacks after one recently mauled a man to death in Staffordshire, and another attacked a girl of 11 and others in Birmingham.
Amy told how she has since made the heartbreaking decision to give up her own dog following the trauma of the attack.
Here she tells Fabulous about her harrowing experience…
“The whole family cooed as we watched our trusty Bull Greyhound Nitro cuddle into our new puppy, Trigger.
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‘They’re like little and large,’ I joked to my children, Ellie-May, 13, Lily-Rose, 11, Luna-Ann, four, and Darren-John, two.
Trigger, an American Bulldog, was such an affectionate pup and the kids adored him.
I grew up in a family of dog lovers and our precious pet Nitro had been around for as long as my four children could remember.
So earlier this year, when Luna-Ann began badgering me for a puppy, I wasn’t sure as we already had Nitro and as a single mum-of-four my hands were already full.
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But when I heard a neighbour Clare’s* American Bulldog had just had a litter of puppies, I sent her a message on Facebook and then popped round for a look.
They were adorable and I couldn’t resist, paying Clare £450 for our puppy with the kids deciding on the name Trigger.
Luna-Ann was totally smitten, and after we brought Trigger home I remained friends with Clare.
One day after a shopping trip with Clare she invited Luna-Ann and I in for a cup of coffee.
Junior He was a calm dog, sniffing around peacefully as I admired the litter of pooches.
Trigger’s dad Junior had been shut upstairs in a bedroom but he must have heard us all talking because moments later, he bounded down the stairs.
The 80lb American Bulldog had always been so calm and I gave him a stroke.
Dog-lover Luna-Ann appeared from behind me and reached across to stroke Junior himself.
She had played with Junior lots of times over the last few weeks we’d known him so I thought nothing of it.
But quick as a flash the enormous dog pounced on my daughter, sending her crashing to the floor.
Her head hit the ground with a sickening thud and I looked down in horror as Junior’s jaw clamped down on Luna-Ann’s head.
Panic coursed through me as my little girl let out a blood-curdling scream.
Terrified I grabbed for the dog’s head but when Junior’s ear slipped through my hand and he continued to maul my girl, adrenaline coursed through my veins.
It all happened so fast but with the strength only a mother protecting her child can summon, I somehow managed to punch and kick the muscular beast off my girl.
My heart broke as I helped Luna-Ann off the floor, her face covered in blood.
I felt a pang of relief when I realised the wounds were to her face and not her neck, but when Luna-Ann fell silent, I was desperately worried.
I called an ambulance but was warned there would be a two hour wait.
With not a moment to lose I called a taxi and within minutes we were being seen by medics in A&E.
Medics agreed that Luna-Ann needed a specialist and we were blue-lighted to another hospital where she would be seen by face surgeons.
Doctors cleaned Luna-Ann’s savage wounds and hooked her up to a drip as they stitched her up as best they could.
The surgeon explained that my little girl might need further attention depending on how her wounds healed.
An hour later, the police arrived at the hospital and when my neighbour phoned me to say Clare had bundled Junior into a car and driven off, I couldn’t believe it.
It was 24 hours before the police caught up with Clare and seized Junior.
That friendship is over now. We’ve even re-homed Trigger as I just couldn’t trust a dog that came from Junior to be safe around my children.
A police investigation is ongoing after what happened to Luna-Ann but I’ve been told Junior will be destroyed.
It’s been a double heartbreak for Luna-Ann, losing her beloved puppy after the sickening attack but there was no way I could keep Trigger after that.
He’s gone to a good foster home and I know he’ll be trained and well cared for, meanwhile, I’m focusing all my attention on Luna-Ann.
She’s been so calm and brave.
She doesn’t want to go to sleep at night – the gruesome sight she must see in her dreams doesn’t bear thinking about – but she’s getting there.
Meanwhile, I am utterly traumatised.
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I’ll never forget seeing that beast lock his jaws around my precious girl’s head – and the brutal battle I faced to save her life.”
*Clare’s name has been changed
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