Pocket bully killed child's therapy dog after fleeing owner and locking jaws on 'pup'

Wales Online

12-05-2025

Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info
A child's therapy dog was mauled to death by a 'pocket bully' - that his owner walked without a muzzle or even a lead. Karen Hawthornthwaite, 54, was returning from a dog walk with her Lhasa Apso Benji when muscle-bound bully breed began attacking her pooch on their doorstep.
Shocking CCTV footage captured the moment the large brown dog raced across the road and locked its jaws around Karen's 'puppy-sized' dog. As Karen and other people in the street tried to prize the bully off her seven-year-old pet, Benji could be heard crying in pain.
Eventually after a two-minute struggle, the teaching assistant is seen to free Benji and run into her front garden to safety. Following the attack on April 29th, Karen rushed her seven-year-old pooch to the vet where they performed emergency surgery to have his left leg amputated.
Unfortunately, a week after the incident, Karen and her family had to make the heartbreaking decision to put Benji to sleep. Police said the owner of the pocket bulldog was given an Acceptable Behaviour Contract under the ASB, Crime and Policing Act, 2014 with specific conditions that include ensuring their dog is on a lead at all times in residential areas.
(Image: Kennedy News & Media)
Benji had originally been bought as a therapy dog for Karen's autistic son Riley Hawthornthwaite five years ago to help with his anxiety. Now 16, Karen says Riley is heartbroken by what has happened and she is speaking out about the attack as she fears the next victim could be a child.
Karen, from Darwen in Lancashire, said: "I was coming down the street and I'd seen this guy with this pocket bully breed off the lead, and it ran straight across the main road. "The owner had no control over it whatsoever. I said to myself, that dog is going to get run over. I didn't think any more of it.
"When the attack first happened, the owner was telling me to pull Benji away, even though the dog had my boy's leg in his mouth. "I thought if I do this, I'm going to pull his leg off.
"The owner was thumping the dog with his fists. The woman across the road was thumping the dog too, screaming at the dog to let go. I can't stop thinking of Benji's face when it was happening.
"The owner gave almighty pull and it eventually loosened. I've no idea how. Everything's a bit of a blur. It took the efforts of multiple neighbours for the dog to let go.
"It was like a horror movie. This dog had blood all over its face and so did Benji. I couldn't go inside because my son has autism and suffers from anxiety so I didn't want him to see all the blood.
"The owner took the dog away. Benji was shaking like mad."
(Image: Kennedy News & Media)
Before undergoing his operation, an X-ray revealed Benji had a deep three-centimetre incision in his left leg. And despite his amputation being successful, the family pet suffered further infections and refused to eat.
Instead, Benji had to be put to sleep on May 6 - exactly five years to the day they welcomed the pup into their lives. Karen is now calling for the attacking dog to be put down and is scared to leave the house.
Karen said: "My son is absolutely heartbroken and he wants this other dog dead now. This dog needs to be put down. For everybody's safety, it needs to be put down.
"I don't know where this dog is now and I'm petrified of it doing it again. I certainly don't want anybody to go through what I am going through. All dogs should be on leads, especially if they are on main roads.
"It's horrendous, knowing what dog it was and the fact it was unmuzzled is just not right. "Next time with this dog, it could be a child, it could be anybody."
Following the incident, Karen said she was visited by Lancashire Police. A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: "Having thoroughly reviewed all the circumstances and sought expert advice, it was deemed that this incident did not meet the criteria of any offences under the Dangerous Dog Act.
"However, in order to reduce the likelihood of a similar incident happening again, the owner of the pocket bulldog was given an Acceptable Behaviour Contract under the ASB, Crime and Policing Act, 2014 with specific conditions which include ensuring their dog is on a lead at all times in residential areas."
You can donate to support the family on the vet bills they spent in trying to save Benji here.