BREAKING: Dog destroyed after mother and child witness gruesome attack in Limerick

A MOTHER and child were left "visibly distressed" after a dog attack in Limerick on Tuesday night.

Two dogs were involved in the incident on the Annacotty-Castletroy Greenway. The dog that was attacked was seriously injured.

An eyewitness of the incident, speaking to Live95, described how "the dog's back leg, the skin was missing, there were chunks taken out of his body".

The offending dog is now deceased.

The woman and her young child were walking their dog on the Castletroy Greenway when another dog, who was unrestrained and appeared to be without an owner, "viciously" attacked their dog.

The eyewitness described how he “heard commotion and screaming and dogs barking” while walking on the greenway and ran to the scene to help.

A local man who had a child playing outside "threw himself into the incident", jumped on the dog, pulled him off the other dog, and got him in a chokehold.

Another passerby "jumped off his bike and put his arms around the man on the ground and the dog and to restrain the dog even more".

The eyewitness himself focused on getting the woman, who he described as "distressed and covered in blood", away from the incident.

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“What was quite worrying”, he continued, “was the area was full of young kids just playing in the summer sunshine”. 

The witness praised the man who initially restrained the animal: “The act of bravery from him was, it was incredible, it really was.”

The breed of the dog is unconfirmed, but the eyewitness stated that it was “quite a strong, powerful dog” that “100%” requires a muzzle: "it had actually chewed through the lead of the other dog in the struggle".

No owner was in sight, according to the eyewitness, for the 40 minutes he was at the scene.

No one was injured as a result of the incident. The status of the dog who was attacked is unknown.

A garda spokesperson confirmed to Limerick Live that “investigations are ongoing in relation to this matter”.

Cllr Joe Pond, a resident of Annacotty, says that he is "appalled by last night's incident". He thanked "the individual who prevented a very serious incident from happening by tackling the dog", commending his "enormous courage". 

He comments that "last night's incident is just the latest on a long list of incidents including antisocial behaviour that occurs on the Greenway" and emphasises that it "highlights the need for a Garda Station for the area as I understand it took approximately 1 hour for the Gardaí to attend the scene".