Brave owner tried to shield friendly Labrador during frenzied two-dog attack at Sutton

The man was walking his black Labrador ‘Izzy’ in Coppice Croft, Sutton when two English bull terriers emerged from a public footpath.

In a frenzied, terrifying 20 minute attack the two lone dogs locked their teeth into Izzy, just after 8am, on October 3.

Izzy’s owner, who previously won a national award for saving a dog’s life, desperately tried to get them off, kneeling over Izzy to protect her.

However the attack continued despite his desperate efforts, and he suffered severe bite wounds to his hands and arms trying to fend them off.

Izzy’s cries were heard by residents, one of whom hit the dogs with a stick to try and stop the attack but with no effect.

Police officers quickly arrived and managed to the get the dogs off, and a dog handler was able to contain them.

Izzy’s owner received first aid by paramedics before being taken to hospital for treatment.

An officer rushed Izzy to a vets, she was then taken to a specialist vets, but died the next day from her severe injuries.

The English bull terriers had escaped from an insecure garden in Alfreton Road.

Tomasz and Magdalena Adamowicz, aged 41 and 38, pleaded guilty to two counts of being the owner/person in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury.

Appearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday, September, 30, they were both given eight-month prison sentences, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to pay £4,700 compensation. The court ordered the dogs to be destroyed.

Izzy’s owner, who doesn’t want to be named, said he was still affected physically and mentally by the attack. He’d had Izzy since she was three months old and she was nearly ten years old when she died.

He said: “I miss Izzy terribly. She was my best friend and companion. I miss the days where I would go on long walks with her. I used to walk her two or three times a day. She was as fit as a butcher’s dog.

“She was very well known and was friendly with everyone. Even the children at the local school used to know her and gave her a stroke.

“I’ll never forget when I put her in the back of the police car after the attack. She looked at me and I didn’t see her again. I was in hospital receiving treatment for my injuries when I was told she’d died.”

He added: “The scarring I have is a constant reminder of the horrors of the incident. When I see my scars I get vivid flashbacks of Izzy and me being pulled apart by these dogs.

“I still don’t have full operational use of my right hand which causes me difficulty to complete simple day-to-day tasks. I have been told this is permanent damage because of this incident.”

In 1988 Izzy’s owner received a Royal Society for the Protection of Animals award for saving a dog.

He said: “I was a plant vehicle driver at Markham Pit at the time. I saw a dog’s head sticking out of a slurry pool. I jumped out of my wagon and got some planks to get to the dog and pull it out. I’m not a hero, it was just by pure chance I was there and I did what anyone else would have done.

“I still have a love for animals and I just hope no-one else has to go through what Izzy and I did.”

Police Constable Ryan Lewis, from Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was an extremely distressing incident for all those involved and who saw this attack which resulted in a dog dying from its injuries and her brave owner suffering severe injuries.

“The owners of these dogs were previously issued with a community protection warning in June 2020 following a report of a dog-on-dog attack involving their dogs.

“They were warned to keep their dogs under control, muzzled and within the boundaries of their garden but both accepted their garden had not been properly secured since this previous incident.

“I hope the outcome of this case serves as a warning to other dog owners that they need to make sure their dogs are properly controlled and trained, to reduce the risk of incidents like this occurring. If they don’t then they could end up facing future criminal proceedings.”

Support your Chad by becoming a digital subscriber. You will see 70 per cent fewer ads on stories, meaning faster load times and an overall enhanced user experience. Click here to subscribe.

.