Yahoo News Woman feared for her life during XL bully attack outside her home
Catherine, from Chingford, was on her doorstep when the attack happened. A month on, she said she’s still in shock
A woman has said she feared for her life when she was attacked by two unmuzzled XL bully dogs outside her home.
Catherine, who only wants to be known by her first name, suffered puncture wounds to her face and had to receive a tetanus shot.
The 66-year-old from Chingford, north-east London, was on her doorstep when the attack happened. A month on, she said she’s still in shock.
"I was scared to death, I thought they were going to kill me. It's made me a bag of nerves and I'm still in shock. If it was a child getting attacked, it could have been fatal."
Catherine said she was enjoying the sunshine on her doorstep when one of the dogs approached, apparently playfully.
As the second dog joined in, both animals got riled up and launched their attack.
Video captured on a surveillance camera showed the owner of the dogs, who was standing nearby, intervening and pulling the dogs off the woman.
Catherine's son Mark said his mother has been living in fear of her neighbour's dogs, which he claimed are unmuzzled in public.
“She loves dogs, having raised them my entire life, and she currently owns Jack Russells. So she knew to stay down when the dogs were on top of her, instead of getting up and aggravating them.
"The dogs are about a year old and are never wearing muzzles in public - even after the [government's] rule change. They're often left in the back garden and my mum can hear them non-stop barking all day long.
"When they're inside the house, they're still barking and banging themselves up against walls."
Catherine, who is retired, reported the incident to the police but decided not to press charges.
'She doesn't feel safe'
From 1 February, it became a criminal offence to own the XL bully breed in England and Wales without an exemption certificate.
Anyone who owns one of the dogs must have had the animal neutered, have it microchipped and keep it muzzled and on a lead in public, among other restrictions.
Mark added: "She has even contacted her local MP to see if she can move house because she doesn't feel safe.
"There haven't been any other attacks with these dogs, as far as I'm aware.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed it was called on 10 May. “Her injuries were not believed to be significant” after attending hospital.
No arrests have been made but it said “enquiries into the circumstances are ongoing”.
Dog owner mauled to death in nearby town
In nearby Hornchurch last month, a dog owner was mauled to death by two XL bully dogs 10 days after the attack on Catherine in Chingford.
Horrified onlookers saw emergency medical teams administering CPR to the woman, who was in her fifties and named locally as Angeline Mahal.
The Sun reported relatives, who described her as “loved by everyone”, had asked her to get rid of the animals before the tragedy.
One neighbour, Sejal Solanki, said she had warned her child about going near the XL bully dogs. She told the PA news agency: “I said: ‘Don’t ever touch those dogs. They’re dangerous.'”
The two registered dogs were seized after being contained in a room at the home in Cornwall Close on 20 May.
The government move to ban XL bullies earlier this year followed a series of attacks.
According to the Office for National Statistics, there were 16 deaths due to dog attacks in 2023, a sharp rise from preceding years where the number had been in single figures.
