A FAMILY have described the horrifying moment they were attacked by a large dog, in the second incident of its kind on the same footpath within three weeks.

While out for a stroll in Malmesbury, a grandfather, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he was forced to protect his family, including his four-week-old granddaughter, two-year-old grandson, daughter and their own pet, from a large boxer dog whose owner refused to call it off.

The incident occurred on the morning of Saturday, March 25 near Hunloke Way, the same spot where a man had to lift his young son onto the roof of a car to escape a dog attack on March 4.

In a quirk of fate, the man in the first incident is the son-in-law of the grandfather who was attacked in the second worrying episode.

He described how they were out walking along the pathway when a man approached with a large ‘snarling’ boxer dog that ‘went for’ his own small dog.

He described the dog owner as about 6ft tall, 30-years-old, with dark hair and a medium build.

Referring to the other dog owner, the grandfather said: “He point blank refused to do anything. It’s absolutely disgusting.

“I had to pick up my dog and my new-born granddaughter from her pram, it was up on its hind legs, biting up at my arm.

“I said, ‘Can you get your dog under control, this is not on’.”

It was then that the other man became aggressive towards the family.

He added: “To save us, I started kicking out at it.

“The man said, ‘if you kick my dog I’ll kick you’.

“My son’s wife, who has just had a difficult birth and this was her first walk out, started to help, but she had her two-year-old in her arms and then the dog started going at her.

“This went on for some time and then eventually he came and got the dog and went away with it. It was very distressing, this is the second time this little boy has had to witness something like this.”

The man, who was visiting his family that live in Malmesbury, explained he was sure it was a different dog to the attack at the beginning of March. 

“It was a different owner and a different dog, it was definitely a boxer,” he said. 

“I’m a firm believer that dogs should be under control at all times in a public place. Someone has got to get a campaign together, pressure should be put on councils to get a bylaw to get dogs on a lead on the footpaths.”

A spokesperson for Wiltshire Police offered some advice on responsible dog ownership: “We would like to stress the importance of keeping your dogs on leads when out and about, to avoid any incidents like this taking place.

"We would also like to urge walkers and joggers to be vigilant when they are out and about. Please be alert and report any incidents to Wiltshire Police on 101.”

A Wiltshire Council spokesperson said: “There are steps we can take to help us deal effectively with someone who is not a responsible dog owner or not managing their pets’ behaviour.

"We always try to talk to the owner to offer some advice and guidance to see if that helps the situation.

"If that does not help, then other options  are available including serving a community protection notice on the owner of the dog, which if breached can result in the  issuing of a fixed penalty notice.

"Any issues or incidents involving dogs biting people should be reported to the police. If people want more information they should visit wiltshire.gov.uk/env-health-animal-welfare”.