Dog proprietor had St Bernard puppies put down after they attacked her

A dog proprietor says she was pressured to place down her two St Bernard puppies after they attacked her twice.

In one of many terrifying assaults, the dogs slammed Rachel Adams, 59, to the bottom, bit her, then dragged her exterior.

Rachel – who mentioned ending the puppies’ lives was ‘devastating’ – is now urging potential canine consumers to analyze the bloodline of the pets, saying breeders might knowingly be promoting aggressive dogs.

She purchased the 2 St Bernard dogs, referred to as Alan and Dave, in February final 12 months for £3,600.

She and her husband Paul Adams, 53, had been very pleased with the puppies initially, however quickly observed they had been anti-social with individuals and different animals.

The couple, from Oxford, spent eight months attempting to coach the behaviour out of the dogs, however following the second attack felt they’d no alternative however to place them down.

Rachel mentioned: ‘We will never get over having to make that decision. We were both utterly devastated, but we had no choice in the end.

‘Both attacks came from nowhere. It makes my blood run cold to think of them.

‘But otherwise the boys were very loving with Paul and I.’

She mentioned the state of affairs received ‘worse and worse and worse’, including: ‘Their world got smaller and smaller and as a consequence so did ours.

‘They were frightened and aggressive. We couldn’t take them out, or depart them, or have individuals spherical.

‘I couldn’t use the hoover, or the hose. They had been frightened and would have attacked.

‘In the end we had to do what we did to protect people in our locality and, of course, myself and my family.

‘If they had ever got out it would have been a tragedy for anyone that they came across.’

Rachel and Paul beforehand ran a rescue centre and are used to dealing with massive breeds.

But inside a few weeks they realised the pups had been far tougher than any dogs they’d cared for earlier than.

It wasn’t lengthy earlier than the St Bernards, who weighed round 50kg every, couldn’t be left on their very own as they’d attack Rachel and Paul’s different 4 dogs.

The couple additionally needed to ‘dog proof’ their home and 7 acres of land because the dogs weren’t protected round different individuals and animals.

By May – round three months after the dogs arrived – the puppies had been too afraid to go away a 10-by-10 foot sq. patch.

It was in October final 12 months that the 2 dogs attacked Rachel for the primary time, when she was feeding them breakfast.

They jumped up and pushed her to the ground, bit her after which dragged her exterior the home, ripping her garments within the course of.

Rachel one way or the other managed to struggle them off with a metallic bin, earlier than working again into her home.

She mentioned: ‘The attack came out of nowhere and afterwards they were so loving, like nothing had happened.

‘You can’t predict worry or aggression, they are often scared of a brand new factor every day, that day it was me they feared.’

Despite the attack, Rachel and Paul, weren’t prepared to surrender on the dogs and wished maintain attempting for an additional month.

But two days later they attacked Rachel once more. Thankfully this time she managed to get herself to the opposite facet of the door and shut it.

The dogs had been euthanised that afternoon.

She mentioned: ‘I honestly thought that second attack was going to be my end. It was so ferocious.

‘It absolutely broke our hearts for Paul to drive them to the vet that afternoon, but we had no choice.

‘It wasn’t honest on them both. They might have had a fantastic life with us, however they had been too scared to go anyplace or take pleasure in any of it, and we couldn’t change that.’

Rachel feels strongly that dangerous breeding was in charge.

She mentioned: ‘People have been knowingly breeding from aggressive dogs and that’s unforgivable.

‘St Bernards are usually loving gentle dogs.’

Reports of canine assaults within the UK have risen 22% within the final two years, in response to figures obtained by ITV News.

Last month prime minister Rishi Sunak promised to ban XL Bully dogs within the UK by the top of the 12 months.

The transfer got here after a spate of maulings by the breed, together with a stunning incident in Staffordshire on September 14 during which 52-year-old Ian Price was killed by an XL Bully.

St Bernard assaults don’t look like widespread, though in 2021 a one-year-old was mauled in the face by her household’s beforehand placid St Bernard.

This web site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.