Dog attack in Witney leaves cat needing leg amputation

A PET cat needed its leg amputated after being savagely attacked by a dog on a lead – while the dog's handler chatted away on a mobile phone.

The grisly incident took place in Witney following the Thursday night Clap for Carers, two weeks ago.

Video footage shows a large dog watching Kaiden, a one year-old tabby cat, while a woman on a mobile phone holds the dog on a loose lead.

The woman apparently fails to recognise the ensuing stand off between the two animals, before the dog launches at Kaiden, grabbing him in its jaws and viciously shaking him for almost 20 seconds.

The apparent owner of the dog failed to act swiftly in stopping the attack, which took place in Northfield Farm Lane.

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Kaiden’s owner, Philip Allen, 47, said: “The NHS clap had just finished so people were milling around.

“Prior to the clap, I saw the dog owner with what was a whippet or a greyhound.

"I had left and gone inside but then heard screams from my daughter upstairs, saying ‘daddy get outside’.

“My neighbour banged on the door to alert me to what was happening.

“I walked over to the owner to ask what had happened and saw there was a clump of fur in the dog’s mouth.

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“There was blood on its mouth and on top of the dog and all over the ground.

“The woman told me she wasn’t the dog owner, and I went to pursue the cat without getting details from the woman.

“She was on her mobile phone the whole time and had no rein on the dog as the leash was loose it gave the dog an opportunity.

“She was still on the phone when she was talking to me despite what had just happened.

“We found Kaiden hiding between two bins and took him to the out of hours vet in Woodstock straight away.

“He was in shock and needed oxygen because he couldn’t breathe.”

Kaiden suffered a double dislocation and double fracture on his front left leg, which then got infected with septicaemia from the bite.

Mr Allen then took the cat to Hamilton Specialist Referrals in High Wycombe, where the leg was amputated on Monday.

“The vet said he had never seen a quadruple break before,” said Mr Allen.

“We were given the choice of amputation or to have Kaiden put to sleep.

“He really is lucky to be alive because he took an absolute hammering.

“The bite from the jaw crushed the bones within his leg, but hopefully he’ll be a happy three-legged cat.

“We’re not looking for retribution but you would think a person’s moral compass would swing to doing something and that’s what grates me.”

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Michael Hamilton, from the specialist vets Kaiden was taken to, said: “Kaiden had one of the most severe elbow injuries I’ve encountered.

“He had severe fractures of both of the bones in his forearm, and in addition, both bones were dislocated from the elbow joint itself.

“To my knowledge this specific combination of injuries has not been reported before in animals, but we were very pleased with how the surgery went.

“Sadly, several days after the procedure, it became apparent that the blood supply to the lower portion of Kaiden’s arm had been so severely damaged that we were unable to rescue the limb.

“We had no choicer but to amputate the leg, but it’s great to hear that Kaiden is doing well so soon after surgery.”

John Baker, Mr Allen’s neighbour, witnessed the incident firsthand.

He said: “The cat came out and it seemed amusing to see the two taking each other on.

“I was on my way back indoors when the kerfuffle took place. The cat was thrown around like a greyhound would throw around a hare at the end of a race. It was very upsetting.”