A MUM has spoken of her heartache after a German Shepherd cross killed her Jack Russell in a "brutal" attack.
Rachael Clark, 30, was eight months pregnant when the dangerous dog leapt on her pet Sparky before mauling him.
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Rachael Clark has spoken of her horror after a German Shepherd attacked and fatally injured her pet Jack Russell, Sparky Credit: Mirrorpix
Rachael's dog walker said the German Shepherd cross was off its lead and its owner was nowhere to be seen before July's horrifying attack.
She rushed Sparky to a vet, but the rescue pug went into cardiac arrest before dying less than two days after receiving treatment.
Rachael and her husband John, from East Hampshire, were hit with a vet's bill of almost ￡8,000 for treatment, Mirror Online reports.
They are now threatening legal action against the other dog owner after the "horrendous" attack that killed their dog.
'BRUTAL'
Rachael told the Mirror: "She [the dog walker] walked him down a path and as soon as they saw this dog she turned away as she always did so our dog wasn’t so reactive.
"Sparky didn’t even see the dog but within a hundred seconds it had run up and focused on him and went for him.
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"It was really brutal."
The dog walker told the couple the other pet owner had agreed to come to the vet but didn't turn up.
Rachael and John were told Sparky "was on death's door and it's critical" after arriving before rushing him to a specialist.
He was given CT scans and more testing and they were were told he was stable.
Rachael, a charity admin assistant, said: "When they gave us the quote for all the procedures and treatments it was still critical at that point but stable and it sounded like he had a chance.
We thought he was going to come home, we thought he was going to pull through but sadly that didn’t happen
Rachael Clark
"We thought he was going to come home, we thought he was going to pull through, but sadly that didn’t happen."
But Sparky died less than 48 hours later.
The owner of the German Shepherd cross was registered at the same vets and Rachael contacted her
She said: "I tried to call her to give her an update but she was shifting the blame, no remorse or anything like that.
"I mentioned about payments and stuff and insurance but she was really not very forthcoming."
'HORRENDOUS'
A solicitor has advised them to claim for pet bills as well as the price of a new dog in a small claims court.
Last week, they wrote to the dog owner a letter to say she had 21 days to resolve the issue or they will take it to court.
Dog-on-dog attacks are not illegal - but Rachael says she is "100%" in favour of changing the law.
Rachael added: "My thinking is surely that’s the first sign that a dog’s aggressive and could potentially harm a human, because what if this is the first warning and next time it goes on and hurts a child?
"Attacking a dog is horrendous but if next time someone is out walking with their child and they get in the way - the police and everyone have had their warning that it’s aggressive but because they’ve done nothing, surely it could prevent further things from happening."
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