A Lurgan woman has recalled the terrifying moment when two dogs attacked her own dog in her front garden – just seconds after her four-year-old grandson had been playing there.
CCTV footage captured the shocking incident outside Dolores Fearon’s Headington Drive home on Saturday morning.
And had it not been for her son-in-law’s actions, it could have been a very different story.
For instinct kicked in and Gary O’Riordan sprung into action to save Mowgli, snatching up the much-loved Shih Tzu and throwing him into the arms of his owner.
Gary, who thought nothing of his own safety, then took off in pursuit to try and find the dogs involved.
Meanwhile, a woman passing by in her car alerted the PSNI and the dog warden was called too.
Dolores did not see the incident unfold and only learned later the full extent of what had unfolded on her lawn.
She told Armagh I: “My son-in-law and my grandson, Jack, were here. They had come around to do a little bit of work. Mowgli was playing with my grandson. They were at the side of the house and the dog was playing with Jack, who was trying to help his daddy.
“I was sitting out the back having a cup of tea and Jack had come round to show me how to use the drill and how you have to have safety glasses on. He was drilling in a piece of wood and so I didn’t hear the whole commotion. I was videoing him. I stopped videoing and then I could just hear the whole commotion and I ran to the side.
“As I ran to the side, my son-in-law Gary came running through the gate and threw Mowgli at me and just ran back out.
“I ran out after him and I was shouting, ‘What’s going on? What’s going on?. There was a lady in a car and she shouted, ‘they (the dogs) went that way’, and he shouted, ‘We need to get them before they attack someone else’.
“I saw my grandson running up after his daddy and I’m shouting, ‘Jack, get back here, get back here now’. I came back into the garden and I was checking Mowgli over. You could just feel his heart was pumping and he was scared. He didn’t seem to be injured but he seemed to have a bit of a sore eye.
“I went back out again and at this stage, Gary had come back and said, ‘I can’t find them’. I was asking what happened and he said two dogs had come into the garden and attacked Mowgli.”
A friend, having heard Mowgli had been set upon, called down to offer his help and see if they could spy the dogs involved.
“We were driving around and then the dog warden came and it just was a whole big thing,” said Dolores. “The police were very quick on the ball and the dog warden was very quick here too, just a bit after the police,
“The dog warden and the police went to look for these dogs and then they came back and they couldn’t find them, but I had CCTV in my house. I was screenshotting them so the police could get the photos. Then the dog warden called down to see me and to check on Mowgli.”
Over the next hours, Dolores was inundated with calls from people checking to see she and Mowgli were alright.
And having uploaded details of the incident on social media, she told how she was informed what had happened was not the first occasion these dogs had broken free.
“The power of Facebook is unreal sometimes,” said Dolores. “I haven’t seen the dogs before but I had messages to say that this has happened before. I got a message this morning (Monday), to say my daughter was the one that called the police and this isn’t the first time that this has happened.
“There’s that many people have called to see Mowgli. He’s very popular here, because my husband used to own a garage in Lurgan in Victoria Street. Unfortunately, he passed away three-and-a-half years ago, but Mowgli used to go down to the garage. Everybody knows Mowgli. He would have gone out in the work van with my husband.
“Everybody was messaging and phoning and still are. The gentleman that owns these dogs could have come down and said, ‘Look, I’m sorry, they got out’. It’s easy happened. Loads of people came down to the door to see how Mowgli was and he didn’t.”
Dolores was stunned when she watched the footage of the incident for the first time; it had all happened so fast, but she is thankful that, on this occasion, what could have so easily ended in tragedy did not.
Mowgli has been to visit the vet and given drops for his sore eye.
And Gary, meanwhile, also escaped relatively unscathed.
“He had a little mark on his arm. He was just very lucky,” said Dolores. “He was so quick it was unreal.
“It could have been a lot a lot different. My grandson was out the front. Jack had literally just come round to show me how to use the power drill and use your safety glasses and that’s how I didn’t hear the commotion, and then whenever the drill stopped, I heard.
“As I got to the corner, my son-in-law came around. You can see in the CCTV footage, Gary went to kick one of the dogs and slid, because it was a bad day. He ran to the front door but the front door was locked and the dogs ran after him to the front door. Then he came running around the side and Jack had just stopped with the drill. I ran around to the side and he just threw the dog at me.”
Dolores now wants others to be aware and mindful that things like this can happen and to be on their guard at all times.
“If Jack was out that front I dread to think what would have happened,” she added. “There’s loads of children up that street. I would just say to them be very, very careful.
“The situation could have escalated totally different. Mowgli is my baby and Jack’s my grandson. If Jack was out there, Jack would have gone to try to save Mowgli and it could have been totally different.
“It’ll be a warning for other people. There’s loads of kids here and I would hate the thought if something happened to any of them.”
