Butcher's dog killed in riverside attack
6:00am Sunday 18th November 2012 in News By Rachel Bishop
Missed: Sammy the dog
A 10-year-old girl is devastated after her dog was attacked and killed by another dog this week.
Ellie Thomas, of St Margarets Road, had looked after Sammy for his whole life, but he was killed by another dog near Thistleworth Marine on Wednesday, November 14.
Ellie said: “I wish he was alive again. I miss him.”
Sammy, five, a butcher’s dog, was out for a walk with his dog walker at about 2.45pm when he was attacked by what the Thomas family believe was a Chinese husky.
The dog walker tried to hit the attacking dog away with the dog lead, but it had Sammy by the neck and no one was able to get close enough to move it off.
Ellie’s mum, Tracey Thomas said: “He had a lovely character. He was such a lovely dog. He was there all the time.”
Police have told the family they are unlikely to follow up on the incident because it is a dog-against-dog attack, but Mrs Thomas fears the dog could attack a child next.
Mrs Thomas said: “Sammy sort of protected Ellie. She’s devastated.”
Sammy leaves behind his two-year-old daughter, Rosie, who lived with him at the Thomas’s home above the family-run butchers and restaurant, where the dogs would occasionally get a few meaty treats.
Police are yet to comment on the incident, but tweeted that they were aware of it.
Comments(13)
martnal
says...
4:17pm Sun 18 Nov 12
Culverin
says...
4:33pm Sun 18 Nov 12
Government must look again at this menace only this time ignoring what the Kennel Club says who believe every dog is a good dog.
PhillipTaylor
says...
6:58pm Sun 18 Nov 12
Phillip Taylor
martnal
says...
12:28pm Mon 19 Nov 12
Why don't ALL dog owners themselves care more about the chance their pet doing something unexpected that could end in an accident?
LaurenceMann
says...
3:16pm Mon 19 Nov 12
More seriously, the very existence of vicious guard dogs in the safest borough in London is an affront to common sense. To possess one should demand the utmost care, and in my view an example should be made for the benefit of the public. The owner should be called to account for his or her actions.
Twickenham resident
says...
10:47pm Mon 19 Nov 12
Where is Thistleworth Marine or Ranelagh Gardens, who owns this chinese husky and what was it doing off the lead? Or if it was guarding a property why was the gate open?
Dog licences are pointless as only responsible dog owners would buy them.
Too many dogs are deliberately brutalised by their chav owners and are not properly socialised when puppies.
Dan Filson
says...
2:08pm Tue 20 Nov 12
bodon prifiz
says...
4:09pm Tue 20 Nov 12
Culverin
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5:46pm Tue 20 Nov 12
"...I also agree with 'Twickenham Resident' there is no way you can police/enforce dog licenses. Also sadly if attacks are dog on dog, the Police see dogs as property, not as living beings".
Whilst you can't police dog licences with current resources, nothing seems to be policed. I live near Bushy Park and the pavements are covered in dog litter - there are just some signs up warning people.
What's more, there seem to be plenty of men who, on the streets, still seem intent to walk their dogs without a lead. Again, I have never seen anyone get pulled up on it.
We would be a better country if we invested in tackling these types of people. Time and time again you get the wrong people with dogs, the wrong people with cars, etc, etc. They need to be stopped!
EdwinaWaugh
says...
2:55pm Wed 21 Nov 12
EdwinaWaugh
says...
3:05pm Wed 21 Nov 12
bodon prifiz
says...
6:59pm Wed 21 Nov 12
EdwinaWaugh wrote:What on earth are you on?? Evidence shows dogfighting existed before the Victorian era. Your idiotic statement has NOTHING to do with this sad incident. & what you did say was not only sexist, but all incorrect. You say 'garbage' that is not an English term but American!. The Police have to follow the law. The law terms dogs as property. To change that law i suggest you write to your MP.
Naturally the police cannot act, they are a waste of time and space! When I was a girl we had proper police, tall, intelligent men who were brave and unfettered by political correct garbage. The police today cannot access dog licences because they are lazy and mainly illiterate, some hardly speak or understand English. The same with under-age sex. Once girls were afraid to indulge before age 16, because they would be declared "in need of care and protection" and sent to a remand home. Men knew they would finish up in prison. Today, the "police" are afraid to act. Dogs without licences were removed and the owners fined, today we have dog-fighting, which was almost non-existent. What do the police do? This newspaper would never print what I think they do, and I leave it to readers' imagination!
unio06 says...
2:45pm Sun 18 Nov 12