Dog viciously attacked on Ainsdale sand dunes by Rottweiler - owner fears a child could be next

A Merseyside man has given details of a vicious attack on his dog at a picturesque walking spot in Ainsdale.

Rob Hamill’s dog, Obi, was savaged while walking with a dog minder on the sand dunes near Upton Avenue, Ainsdale, by a ‘black and tan dog, possibly part Rottweiler’, with no owner present.

The attack left lacerations below Obi’s neck and on his back, though thankfully he was taken to the vets for an operation and is due to make a full recovery.

Mr Hamill will be raising the issue with local councillors and took to Facebook to warn about the attack.

He said: “This type of incident is all too frequent and it may only be a matter of time before a child is the victim.”

He believes that council intervention in the form of preventative action could make the area safer for not just dogs, but their owners and owner’s children also.

Local people have reported dog attacks in the area previously, with one last month involving two dogs that appeared to be Dobermans attacking a group of five dogs, also near the sand dunes.

How did the local community react?

There was outrage in the comments sec of Mr Hamill’s post, with dog owners sharing stories and grievances of unsafe or aggressive dogs not on leads.

One user said: “This is heart-breaking, I don’t understand why people let their dogs off the lead if they can’t control them.”

Another said: “Glad Obi is going to be okay, I get scared walking our dog in case another dog approaches they don’t always have friendly intentions.”

There was also concern that what happened to Obi could easily happen to anyone’s dog in the area.

One said: “Oh my goodness poor dog, my dog is tiny this would have killed her, so frightening people are letting vicious dogs off their leads, hope the owner is tracked down.”

This was similar to many other comments, such as: “Oh god I hope Obi is ok, I took Boo on those dunes the other week for the first time and will be the last now!”

There were others who were clear on what needs to be done to combat the problem, and one user said: “I hope your gorgeous Obi makes a speedy recovery and is not in too much pain.

“We need these aggressive dogs sorting out but more importantly the owners need to take responsibility.”