Deceased woman's bullmastiff which mauled beloved Maltese dog to death in Newport leaving owner traumatised will be destroyed
A man whose late mother's bullmastiff mauled and fatally wounded a beloved pet dog has been told the animal will be humanely destroyed.
The bullmastiff had only been in the care of Richard Watson a matter of weeks before it dashed across a car park in Newport to attack Freddie the two-year-old Maltese, a court heard.
It caught Freddie in its jaws despite his owner's efforts to shield him from the much larger dog, and bit Freddie several times. Although he was taken to the vets he did not survive, leaving his devoted owners devastated.
His owner was bitten several times too.
Watson, who is 61, was walking the bullmastiff and his own smaller dog at Shuker Field on the evening of June 30 this year when the dogs spotted Freddie. Neither of the dogs Watson had with him were on leads, Telford Magistrates Court heard on Friday (September 5).
"Before I knew it," the victim said in an impact statement read to the court, "the big dog and the small dog were running straight towards me.
"Freddie was still on his lead, I was trying to bring him towards me."
He scooped Freddie up in his left arm but the bullmastiff managed to get the Maltese "between its jaws" and bit down several times.
