A mother has been left “scarred for life” after she was attacked by a rottweiler while walking her shih-tzu.
Shue Leung, 52, had been with her dog, Mushroom, on a morning walk when she was pulled to the ground by an off-the-lead rottweiler and attacked, suffering multiple injuries to her face.
After a four hour hospital wait, Ms Leung received 70 stitches to close the wounds on the side of her face.
She said: “I noticed a rottweiler was off the lead with no muzzle. The owner was walking very far behind him.
“I raised up my dog hoping to grab him. With his [the rottweiler] full force he pushed me onto the ground. He tried to grab my dog’s front arm.
“I was holding my dog tight. I was curled up so the rottweiler couldn’t get to my dog.
“After the dog then attacked me the owner then ran to stop the dog. If the owner had been a bit slower my face could have been worse.”
The incident, which happened in North Baddesley, Hampshire around 9.40am on March 1, was caught on a neighbour’s CCTV. It shows the rottweiler focus on the seven-year-old shih-tzu before launching itself at the pair.
In the footage Ms Leung is pulled to the ground and disappears behind a wall. The rottweiler can be seen tugging at Ms Leung, shaking its head left to right.
The owner then runs over beating the dog off and scaring it away.
The dog, which has since been put down, watches as the owner helps Ms Leung from a distance.
Weeks after the attack, Ms Leung has not been able to return to her work, as front of house at a fast food restaurant, because she is concerned about people seeing her injuries.
“My son saw it and he couldn’t cope,” she said. “I will definitely be scarred for life.
“I don’t want people to see my scars. I don’t want to see the dogs to be honest. I fear to go out.”
She added: “I don’t even want to look at myself in the mirror.”
Hampshire Police said they were called at 9.50am on Friday, March 1, to a report that a woman had been bitten on the head by the dog.
A spokesman said: “She sustained serious and potentially life-changing injuries requiring hospital treatment.”
Officers have also confirmed that the dog has since been “humanely put to sleep” after its owner, a man in his 70s, “voluntarily disclaimed” the animal to police.
The man has been interviewed under caution while enquiries are ongoing.
