I was bitten by my OWN dog in a freak attack leaving me scarred for life – I’m terrified for my baby
A MUM was left terrified for her baby when her own dog bit her in a freak accident which left her scarred for life.
Emma Birch, 36, from County Durham, was bitten on her lip by her lovable family dog Hobo, two-year-old springer spaniel cross lurcher, leaving her with life changing injuries.
What was a loveable and affectionate family pet, Hobo was put down due to being deemed a dangerous dog.
The mum-of-one couldn't risk her dog attacking again, especially with an 18-month-old son, and knowing social services would have prosecuted for child neglect, Emma was left with the heartbreaking decision to say goodbye to her dog.
Emma said: "It was completely out of character for Hobo to attack, he was such a loving family dog. He was my first baby.
"I was bending down to smell Hobo and I think I must have been too close and he freaked out and snapped at me.
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“It happened so quickly. He bit through my lip and severed the nerves so I couldn't even feel it and I had surgery on it the next day.
“I still have no feeling in my top lip but luckily the scars are fading.
"I'm still struggling to get over losing our family pet. It's now a crime if you're a victim of a dog attack, but because we owned the dog who attacked me I was also the suspect so I'm down as the suspect and the victim.
"If we didn’t agree to get him put down we would have been subject to prosecution for child neglect for allowing a dog who bit a human in the house with a child.
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"It was all very stressful and people were blaming us on how we brought up the dog, and were being blamed for raising the dog in an abusive household but my dog was my baby.
"When Hobo was a tiny puppy, he was bitten by a French bulldog on his nose and I wonder ever since then he didn’t like things too close to his face, so when I bent down to him he didn’t give me a warning or growl, he just went for me.
"We got him in lockdown so I also think not having much interaction with other dogs as a puppy may have affected him too.
When Emma knew that she needed to keep Hobo away from her home, in a desperate attempt the family tried to put Hobo into a rescue home or charity, but because Hobo now had a history of attacking a human, nowhere would be willing to take him, resulting in him being euthanised.
She added: "We rang around different shelters and charities and we tried to get help from the police for somewhere for Hobo to go, but now he has the reputation of a dog whose bit a human, no-one would take him.
"So our only option was to euthanise. If he had bitten someone else, we would have been be liable to commit a crime, and would have been raised to social services as child neglect as my son would be in a house with a dangerous dog.
"I still have dreams my dog is alive, and as loving as he was, if there was anything I could have done to save him I would have but there was no way around it.
“There was nothing I could have done and so I did right thing. I would have never forgiven myself if it happened to my son."
