A CHIHUAHUA was left in intensive care after being viciously attacked, leaving the owners fearing the worst.

Owner Lyn Boland was walking through Hall Lea Bank Park, Westhoughton, with her two children, along with family dog Oscar, when he was attacked by what appeared to be a pitbull-type dog. Lyn claims the dog also bit her eight-year old daughter.

The family have now been left concerned for their three-year old Chihuahua, after vets told them that he was in a ‘critical condition’.

“I had taken my dog out to the local woods with my children because it’s very popular with dog walkers,” said Lyn, 36.

“My daughter was holding the lead when the large dog approached Oscar. It seemed friendly at first but I didn’t like the look in his eyes.

“As we walked away, he attacked my dog. He pinned him to the ground and ragged him round like a teddy. I froze because I just didn’t know what to do, we were all so scared.”

Despite the family’s efforts to get away from the attack, Oscar was left needing specialist care last Thursday, leaving Lyn unsure as to if he would ‘make it’ or not.

Now back at home, little Oscar has broken ribs and a bruised lung, along with bite marks on his body.

“Over the weekend, I expected the worst because on Friday it didn’t look like he was going to make it at all,” said Lyn.

“He was so weak, but, being a young dog means he has age on his side and has the rest of his life to look forward to. He’s improved massively over the last 48 hours.

“It’s made me so wary now as we won’t be able to walk him for a while. My daughter enjoys taking him on walks and now I don’t know how she will feel, or how Oscar will react with other dogs again.”

The mother-of-three is now calling out for people to take more responsibility for their dogs, especially if they aren’t on a lead, after claiming that her daughter was also bitten by the dog.

She said the bite wound, on her daughter’s knee, happened after she had picked up the Chihuahua and tried to run away with him.

“Luckily it’s nothing major, but the dog still bit my daughter on the knee,” she said.

“Over the past few months I have seen a few posts on Facebook about similar breeds attacking other dogs in the area.

“Even if nothing comes of it, I want people to know about this incident in the area because I don’t want anyone else getting hurt. If you don’t know how your dog will react it should be on a lead and owners should have some more responsibility.”

A spokesperson from the Greater Manchester Police said: “Police were called were called after a woman was bitten by a dog at around 5:15pm on Thursday 25 July 2019.

“The woman was walking her dog when an unknown dog approached off the lead. The dog bit the dog the woman was walking, before biting a girl the woman was accompanying.

“The owner of the offending dog is described as white, aged between 20-25 years-old, around 6ft 2ins tall and was wearing blue denim jeans and a t-shirt.”

Anyone with information about the attack should contact police on 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.