A dog died after being stabbed 23 times in a frenzied attack by another dog owner. Mother of three Daisy Jenkins cradled her dying American Bulldog Tyson following the daylight attack.
Her dog had got in a fight with another dog in a walkway near her Hampstead home in north London.
WARNING: Graphic images
Attack: Mother of three Daisy Jenkins cradled her dying American Bulldog following the vicious daylight attack
The owner of the other dog Wayne Stearman, 41, left the scene and returned with two 10-inch knives before stabbing the bulldog.
One of the blows was so forceful that the knife bent in half in what one witness described as a ‘blood bath’.
Today, Mr Stearman said he knifed the dog because he was only trying to stop it killing his own terrier Monty. Mr Stearman said: 'The dog’s a lunatic. I’d just stepped out my house and the dog went for him. It wasn’t on a lead. It locked its jaw on to Monty’s head. He’s only little and he’s a donut around other dogs. 'It was like a lion on top of a gazelle. I was screaming for help and the owner was nowhere to be seen.
Dying: The owner of the other dog left the scene and returned with two 10-inch knives before stabbing Tyson
'When she did finally turn up five minutes later all she did was stroke her dog. I was kicking and punching it but it wouldn’t budge so I went into the kitchen and got three knives. 'I’m not proud of what I’ve done but what was I supposed to do, stand there and let it kill my dog?' Mr Stearman said the bulldog tried to attack his dog three months earlier.
He said: 'I literally had to pick Monty up and throw him over the fence because this dog was going to go for him. He’s attacked loads of dogs on this estate and he’s even gone for a kid outside the Budgens up the road. 'I’m just glad it happened to me because it was only a matter of time before it killed a kid.' Eleven-year-old Monty, who Mr Stearman has had since he was a puppy, suffered bite marks to his head, face, ear and chin and now flinches when anyone tried to touch him.
'He’s going to be alright but it has affected him. I’m on anti depressants because I can’t stop thinking about it. I can’t sleep. It’s been an absolute nightmare,' Mr Stearman said. The waterways worker, of Belsize Park, north London, was arrested over the incident and held in a police cell for 22 hours but has since been released without charge.
Pet: Tyson was an American bulldog like this one pictured. A 41-year-old man was since been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage
He could be charged with criminal damage but is not expecting any further action to be taken against him.
'The police have actually been very sympathetic to me. It’s not nice to say but people are happy now the dog’s gone. It caused so much trouble round here,' he said.
Miss Jenkins, 41, who has since set up a shrine to her dog at the spot where he died, had begged passers-by to help her as Tyson died on the Aspern estate near Hampstead.
Witness Allison Havey said: 'It was a bloodbath. She was covered in blood and she was just saying: ‘Please help. Help me make my dog live.’ It was very sad indeed.'
A vet was called to try to save Tyson, but the 42kg bulldog died on the footpath.
Miss Jenkins said of the attack: 'We were just clinging together right up against the fence and trying to keep away from the knives.
'I could feel bleeding but I just held him tightly. I thought if I pretended to be dead he would leave us alone. 'I just kept saying to Tyson ‘hang on, please hang on, pull through’. She was unavailable for further comment today. Neighbour Kim McFarland, 54, claimed Miss Jenkins let to dog run around the estate.
She said: 'Daisy always used to let the dog off the lead and it would run round the estate.
'It used to go for other dogs. It never had a muzzle on.
'One neighbour only just managed to get her dog inside once before he went for it. Even when she closed the door it kept charging at it.'
Weapon: One of the blows was so forceful the knife bent in half in what one witness described as a 'blood bath'
The grandmother-of-10, who has lived on the estate for 22 years, said the man, was acting in self defense and was ‘devastated’ about what had happened. She said: 'He’s a dog lover himself and he’s not the kind of person to go around doing things like that. He was just trying to save his dog who is a lot smaller and older. 'Daisy had let Tyson off his lead and he ran into the woods and got hold of this other dog by the throat. I don’t even think she was there at the time to stop him.
'The other dog owner tried to punch Tyson to get him off but he’s a big dog. He went inside to get something and the next thing I heard was a dog’s been stabbed and it’s dead.
'He literally couldn't get Tyson off his dog. What was he supposed to do, wait until it killed his dog? It would have been the same circumstances - a dog would still be dead.'
Story by Emily Allen, Daily Mail
