A GRANDMOTHER-OF-SEVEN is looking to track down and thank the schoolgirls who came to her aid after her dog was left fighting for its life in a vicious canine attack in a Reading park.

Sue Coomber, whose Jack Russell Gypsy Rose had to be resuscitated by vets after she was tossed “like a toy” between two dogs, said it was thanks to the girls’ help that she managed to get to the vets in time.

She has now urged other dog owners to be on their guard as she fears the animals could strike again – and next time the victim might not be so lucky.

Sue, 70, of central Reading, told how walking through Prospect Park with 13-year-old Gypsy Rose and her other Jack Russell, nine-month-old Barney, she noticed two black rottweiler-Alsatian cross dogs racing towards them.

A man screamed "come back, come back" but they carried on and attacked Gypsy Rose.

“She didn’t stand a chance,” said Sue.

“They threw her by her neck between them like a toy. I thought she was dead because she was unconscious with her tongue hanging out blue. They thought she was dead too because they then turned on the puppy.”

During the five-minute attack, Sue, who said the owner did not physically intervene, unclipped Barney’s plastic lead to hit the dogs with the handle, to fight them off.

Barney ran off, chased by one of the dogs, before disappearing, and Sue assumed he would not survive.

Unable to help, Sue picked up Gypsy Rose had started fitting and Sue realised she was still alive and tried to save her.

Reading Chronicle:

Gypsy Rose recovering after being tossed around "like a toy" in attack

Still in shock, she encountered the five schoolgirls, aged 12 to 14, who, she judged from their uniforms, were from Reading’s Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School. They helped her to her car and, when puppy Barney suddenly appeared unhurt, got him inside.

“They were very sweet. They kept saying to me ‘don’t worry, she’s going to be okay’,” said Sue, who works part-time at wool specialist Artesano. I would just like to say thank you to them.”

Gypsy Rose suffered spinal injuries making her uncoordinated, but it is hoped this will improve.

She also has a large gash and puncture wounds to her neck. Castle Street Vets, who worked to save her for an hour, also think she may have damaged cranial nerves as she cannot bark and has difficulty using her tongue.

Sue told how she confronted the man as she held her lifeless dog.

“I said ‘your dogs have killed my dogs’. I said ‘your dogs need to be put down, they’re dangerous’.

“He said ‘they’re fine, they live with children’. I said ‘well they’ll kill a child one day’.”

The man said he would follow her to the vets, but never appeared.

Sue reported the attack, at around 3pm on November 19, to police, but was told a dog-on-dog incident would be regarded as a civil matter.

However, it is a criminal offence to have a dog dangerously out of control in a public place.

Sue added: “Once dogs start to do savage attacks they will carry on doing that. They will do it again to someone else – an animal or person. It has a killing instinct and could attack and seriously injure a child.”

Anyone who knows who the girls were is asked to call the Chronicle on 0118 955 3311.