9 hours ago
A cautionary 'tail' - How I survived a vicious dog attack
It was an ordinary sunny evening in my adopted village of Daya Vieja, near the beautiful harbour town of Santa Pola, on the Costa Blanca in Spain, a small Spanish hamlet, where nothing much ever happens and life is quiet and slow.
Shortly after 7pm I decided to take a short slow ramble around the block with my elderly little rescue Bichon Frise, Oscar, a route we had walked many times in the past, as it's a quiet residential street bordered by fields on one side and mostly holiday homes on the other.
As we walked past a parked car, I noticed a large dog in a crate in the boot, the hatchback of the car was open, but I thought the dog was secured in the carrier.
It was a large Belgian Malinois, a powerful muscular animal usually used by the Police, and it went absolutely ballistic when it saw us approach the car, throwing itself at the door of the cage.
The entire car was rocking, but the dog was securely locked in, or so I thought. Dog attack: A Belgian Malinois. Pic: Getty Images
We had walked maybe 20 metres past when I was suddenly wrenched off my feet by the power of the vicious animal who had my tiny 8kg dog in its jaws, and was ferociously attacking him while I still had Oscar's lead in my hand. The powerful animal had managed to break the door of its cage and leapt out and attacked us.
My screams and the desperate cries of Oscar alerted the owner of the attack dog who appeared out of a nearby house and tried to pull his dog away from us. Nothing was working, so I threw myself on the Malinois to try to stop him from killing my pet.
This is when the Malinois turned on me, grabbing me by my right leg and dragging me, still kicking, off the footpath onto the road. Joan Larkin with her dog Oscar. Pic: Supplied
All the while the owner is thumping his dog down on top of its head, which did nothing to stop the attack but I believe, made my injuries even worse, as each thump gave the dog more grip on my leg.
I remember lying in the middle of the road and seeing Oscar flailing on his back, blood pouring from his abdomen, as the Malinois turned his attention back to him.
The next part of the story is a blur and I DO NOT recommend anyone trying this, but I was desperate to save Oscar and I had lost all care for myself. A stock image of a Belgian Malinois. Pic: Shutterstock
I ran at the dog, hoisted him by his big bushy tail and rammed my middle finger up his 'REAR END' – this was something I had somehow seen on TikTok shortly before the attack itself. The dog released its grip but then attacked again, so I did it a second time, at which point it finally gave up, released little Oscar and ran off.
I gathered my wounded pup in my arms and ran for home. A friend drove us to the veterinary hospital where Oscar was rushed straight to X-RAY and later underwent emergency surgery to treat serious internal injuries.
I was black and blue all over and had serious bite wounds, requiring stitches, to my legs and hands. One of the bite wounds Joan suffered. Pic: Supplied
To be fair, I had a very lucky escape, which is why I am NOT recommending anyone do what I did. It was a moment of desperation, but one that no doubt saved both our lives.
The questions most people asked me after the attack, were 'What did the Police do about it?' and 'Was that dangerous dog taken away?'
The police told me it was a 'civil matter' as in their words, 'A dog attacked another dog and you got in the middle'.
Two separate 'Guardia Civil Police Stations' told me the same thing. So, we engaged a lawyer who told us to expect a wait of around two years for the case to come to court, a case that would cost us way more than we could ever hope to gain in compensation. Santa Pola Gran Playa beach in Alicante region of Spain – Getty Images
I did drive around to the owner of the Malinois and faced him down with copies of my medical reports and Oscar's vet bill which alone came to over 1,400 euros.
As I approached the house, the Malinois ran to the gate, and stood up on his hind legs, ferociously barking and snarling down at me, but I haven't heard a word from the owner and the dog is still there. Joan with her dog Oscar. Pic: Supplied
Needless to say, we left Spain shortly afterwards, after three years of living there, I no longer felt safe to walk in the village, and we came back home to Ireland.
Oscar made a slow but full recovery thanks to the skilled vets in Spain who treated us so compassionately that night, while being totally unsurprised by the reactions of the Spanish Police.
On July 11th it will be a year since that awful day, and Oscar, this amazingly brave little Bichon, has recovered from his horrific ordeal, so this year I intend to give him a fantastic day out at the beach, with a steak dinner and a doggy ice cream afterwards to celebrate another year of life.
