Woman ‘petrified’ after chihuahua attack

The 13in-high dog, named Buddy, raced out to greet Louise Elliff when she called to collect a catalogue.

But Ms Elliff, 49, said she was left terrified when Buddy chased her around the garden snapping at her legs, The Sun reports.

“The dog came booming out and kept biting round my legs. The dog was chasing me, nipping my legs and it drew blood,” Ms Elliff said.

“I could not move quickly enough. It was chasing round and round me in circles.

“The dog was getting more and more irate, I was absolutely petrified.

“It took a wad out of my leg which left me bleeding and with a massive bruise. I was shaking.

The way it came at me was full-on aggression.

“You don’t expect that from such a small dog.”

Ms Elliff, of Crook, Co Durham, who is registered disabled and has walking difficulties, said she managed to get out of the garden and then called the police.

Owner Ash Routledge, who had only had Buddy for a month when the incident happened last November, has now been summonsed to appear before Newton Aycliffe magistrates next month.

He faces a charge under the Dangerous Dogs Act of having a dog “dangerously out of control”.

The maximum penalty is five years in prison if the case goes to crown court and a judge could also order Buddy to be destroyed.

Mr Routledge, 30, also of Crook, said: “If he doesn’t know you he is an anxious dog so he is wary but once you get to know him he is fine. I didn’t think this would ever get to court — it’s a Chihuahua.

“If they fine me I won’t pay it. And if they order him to be destroyed then there’s no way they are getting my dog. I’d rather go to prison than hand my dog over.”

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission