Partner’s anger after Letchworth deaf woman attacked by dogs

THE partner of a deaf woman who was attacked by two dogs and left bleeding in a field has hit out at those responsible writes Mick Gill for the The Comet (07/11/11).

Peter Johnson, of Denby in Letchworth GC, contacted The Comet after his partner of five years Denise Gatler and her dog Lennox - who is being trained as a hearing dog - were both attacked by two other dogs while walking in fields off Quinn Way on Letchworth GC’s Jackmans Estate.

Ms Gatler, who was born deaf, was bitten as she tried to stop the dogs, who were off their leads at the time and described as Staffordshire bull terrier types, attacking Lennox, a collie cross who used to be a rescue dog.

The two owners of the dogs, a man and a woman, left the scene without attending to the 47-year-old, who was taken to Lister Hospital in Stevenage to be treated for bite wounds.
Eighteen-month-old Lennox, who has been unable to attend his hearing dog training classes since the incident, suffered a broken leg and has had 10 screws and a plate at a cost of £3,000 inserted by Cambridge Veterinary Hospital.

“She was walking the dog in the fields and a dog came towards her and appeared to be running around playing,” said Mr Johnson.
“It suddenly came towards our dog and attacked it. Denise tried to get the dog off and got bitten, and as she’s deaf she didn’t hear it but the other dog came in from behind and attacked.
“The playing fields are right next to a primary school and normally she has her five-year-old granddaughter with her so who knows what could’ve happened.
“She’s still trying to recover from it as it’s destroyed all her confidence. She’s a nervous wreck at the moment. She took me back to the field to show me where it happened and she broke down in tears.
“I was so annoyed because apparently all they did while Denise was in the field covered with blood was get the dogs on the leads and go off in different directions.”
The 62-year-old added: “I say to other dog owners to be on the alert and watch out for these guys.”

The incident, which occurred between 6.15pm and 6.45pm on Thursday, June 16, has been reported to the police with investigations on-going.
The female dog owner has been described as white, aged in her mid-20s to early 30s with brown shoulder length hair which was in a ponytail at the time.
She is around 5ft 5in tall, of slim build, and was seen wearing jeans and a white and black top.

The male dog owner was described as being around 5ft 10in tall, of medium build with short dark brown hair.
One of the dogs has been described as a short-haired brown Staffordshire bull terrier type dog with bulky shoulders and the other as a black Staffordshire bull terrier type dog with a white smudge on its chest.

A police spokesman said: “Anyone with information about this incident, or if anyone can identify the owner of the dogs described, is asked to contact PC Baker via the non-emergency number 0845 33 00 222, quoting crime reference G2/11/1294.”