Pensioner, 84, seriously injured after attack by ‘escaped XL Bully’

An 84-year-old pensioner was dragged into a garden and attacked by a dog believed to be an XL Bully.

The dog had escaped from a nearby address and attacked the man on Bardsley Avenue, in Warrington, at around 6.40pm on Monday.

The man was left with serious injuries and was taken to Aintree Hospital, Liverpool, where his condition is critical but stable.

Police shot dead the suspected XL bully and a second one 19 times. A third smaller dog was also seized.

A 29-year-old woman is being held on suspicion of having a dog that was dangerously out of control, causing serious injury.

A manhunt is underway for a 40-year-old man in relation to the attack.

People in the local area posted on social media after the dog attack unfolded.

Izzie Blundell posted: ‘A gazebo is up and police barricade is right down past the bridge shots were fired police are breaking the door down of the man that was shouting for help.’

Michael Lawton commented: ‘As I drove past it sounded like firearms going off. Hope I am wrong but have a feeling I am not. Police from out of area are also frantically coming in. Seen three come down Winwick Lane at some speed.’

Henry Enri added: ‘Just crossed there looks serious.’

Chief Constable Mark Roberts said the pensioner was ‘an innocent man who was simply walking in the street when he was horrifically attacked by a suspected unregistered XL Bully’.

He said XL Bullies, ‘are like weapons; their physical attributes can make it like owning a loaded firearm with a questionable safety catch’.

‘The sheer size and ferocity of these animals mean that our firearms officers had to discharge 19 shots – all of which hit their targets – in order to bring the incident to a conclusion and ensure the safety of the public.’

He said what happened will ‘impact him [the victim] for the rest of his life.’

More than 100 XL Bullies have been removed from Cheshire, according to police.

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