Chloe Glover (Reporter)
A BRITISH man came within inches of his life when a vicious dog attacked his neck.
Paul Hughes has called in police after he was set upon by two rottweilers on a country walk, near Marbella.
The Essex man was left needing emergency surgery after one of the dogs bit his throat just millimetres from his jugular vein.
Hughes, 53, needed six stitches in his neck and was gouged several times on his right hand, while his family’s dogs Poppy and Molly also received life-threatening injuries.
He and his dad John, an expat antique dealer, had been walking in the Barranco Blanco valley, between Marbella and Coin, when the attack happened.
“It was awful”, said John, 80, who rushed Paul and his dogs for emergency treatment.
“One of the rottweilers bit him on the front of his neck, very close to his jugular vein.
“He was bleeding very badly. I was very scared.”
He continued: “We didn’t know if Poppy would make it due to her injuries but thankfully both she and Molly have survived.”
He said the two dogs, believed to be owned by a local Spanish lady, came out of nowhere.
“They were totally out of control, didn’t have muzzles and were not on leads,” he continued.
“At first they went for my dogs and started biting Poppy, which was when Paul intervened and that’s when they turned on him.”
The dogs eventually turned back to their owner, who was then able to put them on leads.
Warehouse manager Paul has filed a denuncia to the Guardia Civil in Coin in the hope of tracing the owner.
“I am furious”, he said. “The two dogs are very dangerous and it is pure irresponsibility on the part of the owner.
“I hope that the authorities can trace her before her dogs kill a dog or worse, a child.”
A Guardia Civil spokesman said they have not yet found the owner.
