BOLTON Council are investigating a dog attack at Seven Acres Country Park after a Staffordshire bull terrier was badly scratched and bitten by another dog.

The incident happened on Saturday morning at around 10.30am when a couple were walking their one-year-old Staffy along the river on a lead.

A second, larger dog is said to have appeared ahead of them on the path walking off the lead and approached the Staffy in a friendly manner.

But it then went on to attack her, scratching and biting the distressed dog.

Now the dog warden is investigating.

The Bolton News: A dog was scratched and bitten during an attack

The owner was standing further away and the couple said the owner had told them to kick his dog away. He then walked off and immediately the dog followed.

The Staffy’s owner, who prefers not to be named, said: “This dog just came out of nowhere and came up to our Staffy.

“At first he seemed friendly but then it started to attack ours.

“My husband even had to jump on our dog to protect her.

“The oner told us to kick the dog away - but we would never want to hurt an animal - when he walked off the dog followed.

“It was really scary and our dog was traumatised by what happened. She’d been bitten and scratched, luckily just puncture wounds but I think she was shocked by the whole experience.

The Bolton News: Seven Acres Country Park (Photo: Google Maps)

“We always walk around there and we’ve never had anything happen like this before.

“We reported it to the dog warden and he came to the park a few hours later.

“It’s very worrying, especially if any kids are out walking dogs alone.”

A spokesperson for Bolton Council said:“Incidents like this can be very distressing for both the owner and their pet.

“We are investigating what happened and will take appropriate action.”