A grieving mum-of-two has petitioned government to make 'dog-on-dog' attacks illegal, after her border collie was torn apart by two larger dogs.
Emma Gambrill, 44, was walking her beloved pooch Blue in March, before two large cane corso dogs had gotten out from their garden in Emma's home of Enfield, London.
After they were chased, Emma claims one 'huge' dog aimed for Blue's throat and eventually latched onto his back, refusing to let go.
Poor Blue then suffered massive injuries, and later died due to his wounds.
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However, when contacted, specialist officers from Essex Police determined the dogs involved were not a banned breed and did not continue to present an imminent danger to people, leading to no further charges. Essex Police said the owner of the two dogs accepted a community resolution for having dogs dangerously out of control.
Horrified by their decision and determined to get 'justice' for her beloved pooch, Emma launched a petition calling for dog-on-dog attacks to be made a criminal offence and wants more robust actions enforced on owners.
After amassing more than 151,500 signatures, the petition was presented in Parliament by her local MP Feryal Clark earlier this week, who has since said current legislation on the matter is "insufficient" and "simply not good enough."
Speaking about her petition, Emma said: "I wanted to help others and didn't want it to happen to anybody else - that's how I deal with things, I was absolutely distraught and still am.
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"Don't get me wrong, the police have put the community resolution order in place, but with [my] frustration of [their response of] 'I'm really sorry, we can't do anything because it's a dog-on-dog attack', I just couldn't get my head around it.
"That's why I started the petition because I thought the trauma our family have felt to have nobody accountable for what happened - I wouldn't wish that on another family, ever.
"I want to make it a criminal offence and more robust actions enforced on owners and accountability - for the owners to be accountable."
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Emma claims the dog owners were in the garden and that she heard one of them say 'he's got his head under the fence', before the pair managed to escape and ran across the busy main road towards her.
While both dogs came at them, it was one of them that is believed to have landed the killer bites.
Blue suffered fatal injuries, while one of three passers-by who had attempted to help had also got bitten.
Emma said: "I'm absolutely amazed [by the number of signatures] but in the same breath I think it highlights what a huge problem it is because it's just more and more frequent.
"I think with lockdown and the rise of people getting puppies and dogs, there's no accessibility to training, I don't see it getting any better - I think it highlights how frequent these attacks happen.
"My main message is that if you're in any doubt that your dog may be reactive, keep them on a lead and just be responsible owners and accountable for your dogs."
Feryal Clark MP said: "The current legislation is insufficient and simply not good enough.
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"The Government's response to the DEFRA select committee's recent review into the legislation was a serious missed opportunity to make the improvements needed to stop terrible incidents such as the one Emma experienced with Blue.
"The Government can and must do more to hold owners to account and improve the provisions of the Dangerous Dogs act, so that responsible dog owners like Emma do not suffer."
You can read more about the petition here.
Topics: Dog, UK News, Life News, Pets, Dogs, Puppies