Dog attacks female cyclist

A FEMALE cyclist sustained multiple injuries and required hospital attention after being attacked by a dog and thrown from her bike on Galley Hill on Sunday afternoon.

The cyclist,who does not want to be named, was riding on the bike path down the hill towards Glyne Gap at the time of what she describes as "a terrifying, completely unprovoked attack."

She believes the dog was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier and said: "It was just before 5pm. I saw the dog coming up the hill on the grassy verge area next to the pedestrian lane, following a few yards behind was a girl who was maybe in her early twenties and a boy of about 7 or 8 years old.

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"I was going down the hill quite fast but am always cautious when I see people and unleashed dogs and I was prepared to brake if necessary."

However the cyclist was not prepared for what happened next: "As I rode parallel with the dog, for no reason, it suddenly launched itself off the verge, raced across the path and threw itself at me side on, the bike flipped up - I think this may have been because as the dog landed after attacking me it went under the bike.

"I noticed later that the front wheel and handlebars had been turned right round and were facing the wrong way.

"It was such a powerful attack I thought I'd been hit by a car.

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"I was terrified as the dog was racing round me, barking and baring its teeth; I feared another attack was imminent."

The cyclist thought she had suffered serious injury and initially couldn't move. She said the dogs owner didn't attempt to get the animal under control despite repeatedly asking for her to put the dog on a lead:

"I couldn't believe how unconcerned the dogs owner appeared, she'd just witnessed her dog attacking me, I was laying on the ground in agony, and yet she did nothing to get the dog under control or to help me up.

I tried to remain calm while the dog continued to go ballistic but had to beg her three times to put it on a lead before I dared try to move."

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Two people passed the scene shortly after the attack, a jogger and a man with a dog but though the cyclist tried to flag them down, and one person asked what had happened, neither stopped to offer assistance.

The cyclist said the dog's owner did help to move the bike when the paramedics arrived and said the owner claimed the animal "had never done anything like that before" and that it was "normally such a sweetie."

The cyclist suffered a number of injuries. Paramedics took her to the Conquest Hospital and she was released four hours later.

The incident has been reported to East Sussex police and Sergeant Tricia Reeve-Fowkes said:

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"It is the responsibility of all dog owners to ensure that their animals are kept under control at all times when in a public place."

The Bexhill attack happened on the same day that 10 year old Rhianna Kidd, from Dundee, was viciously attacked by three Rottweilers while out riding her bike.

She suffered serious muliple injuries, including a broken jaw, in the attack. Tayside police have charged a 33 year old woman under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 for failing to keep the dogs under control.

The dogs have since been put down.