Guide dog owner's pit bull terror

A blind man today told how he, his teenage son and his guide dog were attacked by an unleashed pit bull in the centre of Wolverhampton.

Kevin Lloyd was on his way home from work when the dog set upon his four-and-a-half-year-old dog Watson, which was pinned down and left with deep bite marks to his head and eyes. Mr Lloyd, 43, said he and Watson were rescued by staff from a bank as the pit bull's owner looked on from a bus stop.

"I can't believe the owner had a dog like this loose," the Birmingham Midshires worker said. "If it had been a smaller dog, or even a child, it would have been torn to pieces. I was walking through the city centre with my 19-year-old son Jonathon when the pit bull went straight for Watson.

"We tried to drag it off him but it just kept on coming back and pinning him down. It was a really volatile and violent dog.

"The owner was in a bus stop drinking beer with his mates. Staff from the Royal Bank of Scotland came to help us."

The attack happened in Princes Street at 1pm on Friday. Mr Lloyd, of Kent Road, Wednesbury, said: "The dog bit Jonathon on the arm but luckily it didn't get through his winter coat. He later said it was the scariest thing that had ever happened to him.

"Traumas like this can really affect guide dogs and even end their careers. Luckily, Watson's injuries were superficial but he was shaken by the whole thing. We are now looking after him at home."

Mr Lloyd's MP, Tom Watson, said today said he was "shocked and horrified" to hear of the attack and called for immediate action to find the dog involved.

"Mr Lloyd's dog had teeth marks and cuts around his face," the West Bromwich East MP said. "It is a shocking thing to happen to someone in a shopping area, and there should be a full inquiry."