Owner of the dogs, JasonA SHOCKED neighbour told today of his horror at seeing a dog-attack victim covered in blood just minutes before he died.
Andrew
Walker, 21, was trying to separate two alsatians fighting in the back
yard of his home on Reads Avenue, Blackpool, when they turned on him.
The
neighbour, who did not wish to be named, described seeing "blood
everywhere" when he looked out of the window after hearing screaming
and shouting coming from the back yard at around 8pm on Friday.
He said: "I heard a dog barking and the couple who live there were screaming and shouting. They were panicking.
"There was blood everywhere. I could see one dog covered in blood, it was just walking around."
Police
said the victim had been bitten by both dogs, which were owned by
another man who lived at the address, and banged his head when he was
knocked to the ground during the attack.
Police said they are now treating the matter as "a tragic accident" and have passed the case to the coroner.
The
neighbour added: "I feel sorry for the boy. I saw him walking from the
shed to the laundry room, he had blood on his shirt. I can't believe
he's died. We would see him cleaning the dogs in the back yard."
The
dogs' owner, who would only identify himself as Jason, managed to get
the animals under control and called an ambulance after Mr Walker
collapsed.
But despite paramedics' efforts, he died shortly afterwards.
Jason
said: "My dogs weren't nasty. What happened, I can't get over. I've
pulled one of the dogs off the other, Nico off the other one, and tried
getting Andy out of the way but he wouldn't move. He was trying to
assist me."
Unemployed Mr Walker, originally from Stoke-on-Trent, had been living in Blackpool for a year.
Paying
tribute to his friend, Jason added: "We had a laugh together. He was
always there for me. No matter what I needed he was always there."
Det Insp Sue Cawley, of Blackpool CID, said Mr Walker's grieving parents had visited the resort on Sunday to identify their son.
She added: "It was a dreadful incident. We have investigated fully with the RSPCA and it appears to have been a tragic accident.
"His
parents are devastated and the police are offering whatever assistance
we can. It seems he has heard them attacking each other and has gone to
intervene when they have turned on him.
"He knew the dogs and
had always got on fine with them in the past. He has sustained puncture
bite wounds around the torso and a head injury which we believe came
from a fall during the attack.
"The dogs were probably
well-known to neighbours but have never come to the attention of the
police. It appears the owner has kept them responsibly and they had
been adequately treated.
"We will wait on the results of a post mortem when we should know more about the cause of death."
The dogs, aged three-years-old and 13 months, were destroyed at the direction of the owner.
http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpoolnews/Dog-owner-speaks-following-alsatian.5231696.jp