Woman dragged by the hair by dog as she tried to protect pet

A woman was attacked and dragged by the hair by a dog while trying to protect her own pet.

Ashley Elmslie was pounced on by Duff the Staffordshire bull terrier in her garden in Glasgow’s Easterhouse on August 18, 2020.

The 35-year-old was bit on the arm when she bent down to pick up her own bull terrier and Jack Russell mix-breed dog.

Ms Elmslie was pulled to the ground before Duff latched onto her ponytail and dragged her.

She was saved after Duff’s owner, Lynne Boyce, 45, intervened and separated them.

Boyce pleaded guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to being the owner of a dog that was dangerously out of control which bit Ms Elmslie to her severe injury and permanent disfigurement.

The court heard from Ms Elmslie, who said she took her dog to the back of her flat.

She said she saw Duff running towards her and went down to pick her dog up.

Prosecutor Stewart McLean asked what happened next, and she replied: “Before I knew it, the dog had grabbed under my arm and pulled me to the ground.”

Mr McLean then asked if Duff let her arm go, and Ms Elmslie replied: “It let my arm go as at one point it was having a grip of my hair.

“I don’t know if I was conscious or in shock, I remember being in bits.

“It had me by the ponytail. It was just pulling.”

Ms Elmslie was taken to hospital after Boyce stepped in.

She stated she had been bitten between her fingers which had been “ripped open” as well as suffering teeth marks to her arm.

Mr McLean asked Ms Elmslie how she was medically treated.

She replied: “They had to cut my arm open to clean it and stitch it, there was dog hair and dirt in it.”

Sheriff Paul Brown ordered the dog to be destroyed.

Boyce was told to pay a £300 compensation order and was banned from owning a dog for three years.