66-year-old Irish tourist Geraldine Kennedy was bitten by a dog on a terrace of the Red Rum British Pub in Alcudia last Saturday afternoon. She told the Bulletin this morning: “We were on the terrace of the bar and at 4pm I went to the toilet, which are downstairs. As I walked down the steps I noticed this lovely looking Border collie and I stopped to tell the owner, who was with two young children, what a lovely dog it was. It was then that the dog suddenly went for me and bit me on the chin and the owners and the dog fled the scene.”
The Guardia Civil in Alcudia have confirmed the incident and that police rushed to the scene.
Police sources said that due to the amount of blood the holidaymaker was losing, police accompanied her to a medical centre where she was given two stitches.
The Guardia Civil are working in cooperation with the Local Police which have an animal response unit in an attempt to locate the owner. They are combing through the CCTV footage from the bar and have said that the owner is obviously local and it is just a matter of time before they track her down.
Geraldine, who is due to fly home this Saturday, said that she hopes the owner and the dog are found quickly in case the pet attacks someone else.
According to police sources, everything suggests that the owner does not have the dog’s papers and vaccinations in order and for this reason decided to leave the premises in a hurry. The woman faces an offence of reckless injury and will also be charged with administrative offences if it is proved that she did not have the dog’s vaccination record and documentation in order.
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I have had to berate many a tourist who saw my dog ( chocolate lab) and thought they could just approach her like she was public property without asking. Did meet some who asked very politely first and got glorious cuddles. Respect the dog, and the owner. Simples.
Stephen GrimmerStephen. You are 100% right. But let's just blame the dog because it's easy ! If a drunk tourist put their face in mine I would also likely also react ! Seems there is a real anti dog attitude here ! Dogs not the problem , it wasn't doing anything wrong , really !!!!
I was at Red Rum in Alcudia ! This entire report is sensationalism ! The dog was on a lead, it was calm & with the owner & children. The police "DID NOT RUSH TO THE SCENE ". One policia Local on a scooter arrived around 45 mins after Red Rum owner called. The woman was told to walk back to her hotel ! The ambulance arrived some time later & was redirected to the hotel . As a lifetime dog owner I cannot understand anyone, drunken or otherwise approaching an unknown dog & putting their face close enough to get bitten. The dog if scared will of course give a nip, exactly as it did. You cannot blame the dog ! Maybe it doesn't like tourists, drunk people or simply being overwhelmed by someone it doesn't know ! Certainly it wasn't a frenzied dog attack or anything more than a warning nip. Best advise is to not pet a dog you don't know who doesn't understand your tone & language ! Yet again , let's blame the dog, the owner & anyone but the person that caused the dog to be do distressed it needed to defend itself ! Typical anti-dog reaction from our local authority ! Maybe they should look at the cause & not the outcome , it certainly wasn't the dog that caused this !!!
The victim also bears some responsibility here. Border Collies are notoriously skittish. The dog was with its owners' children and likely to feel protective, and the victim approached the dog to interact with it (and judging by the bite location, put her head down to nuzzle it). My BC is the fluffiest, friendliest people-loving dog you can imagine, and always gets attention in public, but if (especially children) ask to pet him, I always kneel down and hold his head first, and remove him if he gets stressed.