THIS WEEK IN 1990: Family pet savaged to death by Labrador

Margaret Ford, 55, the owner of the Jack Russell that was killed, said she feared that the Labrador could strike again.

Mrs Ford, a nursing assistant at St James’s Hospital, said her family was heartbroken by the death of 13-year-old Russ, whom they had since he was a puppy.

She took Russ to a Southsea veterinary practice following the attack in Milton Park, but he died the next day.

Mrs Ford, of Cockleshell Gardens, Eastney, told how she was powerless in attempting to stop the unprovoked attack – and how the man walking the Labrador ignored her pleas for help.

She said: ‘Russ was not the least bit aggressive. He was no fighter, and has never been in a scrap. He certainly did not deserve to die like that.

‘The other dog was a large Labrador-cross with a silver chain around its neck. I pulled him off, but it just threw Russ on the grass. Russ was screaming. He was helpless.’

Police later told Mrs Ford there was little they could do following the attack.