THEY say that there are no dangerous dogs, but only dangerous owners.
On Tuesday night an alleged incident on the Paseo de Mallorca not only demonstrated the truth of this saying, but also raised many unanswered questions. Around 10.30pm a man identified as Oscar, who lives in a flat on the Calle Jaime III, took his dog, a tiny Schnauzer, out for walk.
His dog was on a leash and, according to his complaint to the police, when he reached the right side of the Paseo de Mallorca going towards Santa Catalina, a dark, unkempt man around 30 years old, approached him. This man was with a woman, and with them was a pit bull terrier, without a muzzle or a leash. It is then alleged that the man said to his dog, Attack! and the pit bull threw himself at the Schnauzer. Oscar attempted to defend his dog, hitting and kicking the pit bull but he was unable to repel the dog and received various bites as well.
Three or four minutes went by, during which the man and the woman stood by and did nothing to stop what was happening.
Oscar continued to hit the dog until, at last, the pit bull stopped its attack. The owners of the pit bull called their dog and left the place. Then the injured man called a taxi to take his dog to a vet. One stopped but the driver refused to take the dog saying that he didn't take domestic animals in his vehicle. Finally, Oscar rang his wife and took his pet to the vet.
Meanwhile, witnesses to what had happened rang 092 to contact the Local Police.
BITES
The Schnauzer had numerous bites all over its body and had to have 22 stitches.
His owner took him to the clinic on foot as he thought he would get there quicker, and he was also treated for bites and cuts.
The owner of the pit bull is known to the police, is said to live around the Plaza Santa Catalina and has two large pit bulls and a puppy.
One woman who witnessed the incident said that sometimes it was the man's children who took the dogs for a walk, and she had heard that they were trained to fight, and that on occasions they had fought in the area of Son Banya. The complainant said that the local police had told him they had fined the man for not having a muzzle on his dog, and that they had the animal in quarantine. But Oscar said that he was going to take the matter further, and had got in touch with two solicitors so that they could advise him how to bring criminal charges against the dog owner.
Schnauzer attacked by pit bull on Paseo de Mallorca