John Wood, 65, bit down as hard as he could on the attacking mutt for at least 10 seconds, forcing it to let go. He is pictured with his dog Bobby, daughter Louise and three-year-old grandson Jack
A retired nurse saved his Jack Russell’s life by throwing himself to ground and biting the dog that was trying to rip its throat out.
John Wood, 65, bit down as hard as he could on the attacking mutt for at least 10 seconds, forcing it to let go.
John said his pet, Bobby, 11, would certainly have been killed if not for his intervention.
Even then, Bobby suffered very serious neck injuries causing a vets bill of £1,000.
John was out for a walk with his pet in his hometown of Ferrybridge, West Yorkshire, on Monday when the terrifying incident happened.
The former nurse, who worked for the NHS for 37 years, was approached by a Rottweiler and another large, white dog, both of them off the lead.
He said: ‘The rottweiler came running round and started attacking Bobby from the back.
‘Bobby then tried to defend himself but the white dog jumps in and grabs Bobby by the throat. He was going to kill him so I started hitting him over the head with a stick. He still wouldn’t let go.’
He added: ‘The next thing, I leapt onto the ground and bit the dog on the flappy bit of its mouth. I bit and bit, just kept biting down for about ten seconds, until the dog finally let Bobby go.
‘I wasn’t going to let go, he was going to kill him. He would be dead if I didn’t do it, there’s no doubt about that.’
John shared photographs of Bobby recovering at home since his operation showing cuts and stitches next to a large drain on his neck
John revealed he had contacted police but was told they could not do anything as it was a dog on dog attack
Both attacking dogs backed off and John then realised how badly hurt his pet was.
John said: ‘He had torn all the muscle so they had to stitch that back up, and sew up all the flesh.’
‘He’s got a massive drain in his neck but we’re taking this out today so he will be happy he can shake his head again.’
John shared photographs of Bobby recovering at home since his operation showing cuts and stitches next to a large drain on his neck.
John revealed he had contacted police but was told they could not do anything as it was a dog-on-dog attack.
Since the attack, John has refused to take his three-year-old grandson to the area over fears the dogs could attack again.
He is now hoping to hunt down the two dog owners – believed to be two young women – so they can repay him for the vet fees.
John is now hoping to hunt down the two dog owners – believed to be two young women – so they can repay him for the vet fees
He added: ‘Those dogs should not be allowed out on a lead and they should have been wearing muzzles. Those dogs were totally out of control and the owners even seemed too small themselves to control them.
‘I used to have insurance but stopped it two years ago after reading in the small print I would have to pay 60% of the bill. So the last two years I’ve been putting that money away which paid for this.
‘I want to track down the owners to pay me back the £1,000 in vet fees I had to pay.’
The images have attracted hundreds of comments from dog lovers.
Charlotte Yelland said: ‘This is awful, so sorry to hear about your Bobby. There’s some irresponsible dog owners out there. I hope you catch the people responsible.’
Sharon Goodwin wrote: ‘Sorry to hear this hope your little dog is going to be ok. Hope you have reported them to the police. All dogs should be on a lead that could have been a child.’
And Lyndsey Marron said: ‘Omg poor Bobby hope he gets well soon. Dogs like that should have a muzzle on could have been a child.’