Dangerously out of control dog that attacked another pooch by Southsea Common put on behaviour contract as owner punished

As reported in The News last month, fearless dog owner Gary Crosbie, 59, leapt to the rescue of his beloved pet after punching the Staffordshire Bull Terrier in the head before getting it in a chokehold.

His Crocodile Dundee-esque style wrestling with the monster Staffy that had jaw-locked his deaf 13-year-old working cocker spaniel Dizzy near the D-Day Story on Clarence Esplanade, Southsea, ultimately saved his dog.

The shocking episode left Gary’s wife screaming before she collapsed in horror having a panic attack as the muzzle-less dog with no lead on clamped its teeth on Dizzy’s ear as it set about ‘trying to kill her’.

The incident, which took place on Saturday August 6 around 8.30pm in Avenue de Caen, saw strangers dash to help – with one desperately pouring a beer over the wild animal.

Police were contacted by Gary, a 25-stone bailiff who was visiting Portsmouth for the day with his wife in their campervan from Godalming, Surrey, after he said the dog suddenly attacked for no reason.

Gary told The News last month: ‘The woman and her dog were walking nearby and then her dog bounced towards us and attacked my dog, getting hold of her in its mouth. I quickly reacted and started punching the dog as hard as I could.

‘A man came over and poured a can of beer over its head. But the dog was still locked onto Dizzy so I tried to put my hand into its mouth - I couldn’t get it to let go.

‘I put my arm around its throat into a chokehold and started twisting and pulling it. But it was still not letting go. I was on top of it hitting it as hard as I could and it was still not yelping.

‘Eventually its neck was creaking and I managed to get it off…it whimpered and yelped. I got hold of its collar and pointed the finger at the woman.’

He added: ‘It was trying to kill Dizzy. Even when I got it off it was still trying to go back to finish Dizzy off.’

Gary contacted the police but was stunned at their response. ‘They said the dog did not bite me so it was not worth a report. They told me to talk to a dog warden who then said they were “so busy” when I called,’ he said.

‘It’s disgraceful. The dog would have killed. It was mental.’

But police did investigate the incident in the end and have since taken action against the dog and its owner.

A police spokeswoman said: ‘The owner of the dog has been issued with a community resolution and the dog has been placed on a dog behaviour contract for the duration of its life.’

The savage attack happened before the dog attack death of Ian ‘Wiggy’ Symes in Fareham on August 10 and the mauling of a child who survived in Leigh Park two days earlier.