Horror attack on dog in Walton leaves its stomach in stitches

Cristina Beech and her husband were taking their two-year-old dog Cody out for a peaceful evening stroll along the coastline on September 13.

They soon spotted a black Labrador which was off its lead pacing towards them, with its owner walking behind in the distance.

All of a sudden, despite Cody being by Cristina's heel, the Labrador started attacking him.

Winner - Cody with his 'Best In Show' prize (Image: Cristina Beech)

"To my horror, all I could see was this Labrador attacking our Spaniel from every angle it could to get at," said Cristina. 

Once they had diffused the situation by waving their arms and shouting, the owner of the Labrador started running after it.

According to Cristina, she told the man his dog had bitten Cody, but he denied it.

She said: "I told the owner he needs to put that dog on a lead and have a muzzle on it, especially with all the current news around dangerous dogs.

Before - Cody with his blanket and teddy, before the vicious attack (Image: Cristina Beech)

"He just stared at us and muttered a sorry under his breath - he either was in shock himself, or he clearly didn't seem to care."

Cristina checked Cody's sides, but with the sea water and sand over his body, she found it initially hard to see what damage had been done.

Her husband soon identified a large puncture wound under Cody’s stomach, where his insides were visible. 

Cristina said: "I got as far as his stomach and the yelp he made just horrified me."

After - Cody in stitches and bandages after his surgery (Image: Cristina Beech)

After being taken to emergency vets in Colchester, Cody endured surgery due to the damage to his internal abdominal wall.

The wound had to be stitched up externally and internally, with a drain to remove the fluid around the injury.

Cody is now recovering well at home but Cristina, who has had to fork out an eye-watering sum of more than £2,000 on Cody's treatment, has now issued a plea to the owner of the Labrador to contact them.

Painful - A closer look at the stitches on Cody's stomach (Image: Cristina Beech)

She said: "Please come forward if you manage to read this, mainly for a heartfelt apology, not for accusation or argument, but to accept responsibility.

"We have been stung by a huge vet bill and this is so frustrating as it could have been easily avoided.

"We just want to thank everyone in this wonderful community we have for sticking together and supporting us with advice and kind words."

Update: The owners of the attacking dog have now made contact with Cristina. 

They have apologised and are happy to pay the vet bill in full. 

At the time, they were in shock due to their dog never having been aggressive.