A teenager says she was savagely attacked by a dog before being told the pet would be let loose on her again if she called the police.
Crystal Bates had chunks of her leg ripped off by the English Bulldog and says she still suffers trauma five years later.
The mum-of-one was just 17 when she was mauled at her friend’s home – but is adamant it was less the animal’s fault than the owner.
The 22-year-old, who was hospitalised for nine days and needed plastic surgery after the attack, now has difficulty being around any dogs, particularly since having her son.
She says the law needs to change – with widespread licences being brought back in to ensure owners are up to standard.
Crystal, from Daventry, Northamptonshire, was visiting her friend’s home in July 2018 when the family’s dog – thought to be around four – latched onto her leg.
‘I knew the dog from a baby, but hadn’t been round the house for about six months,’ she said.
‘They had two stair gates right by the door, I think they knew something wasn’t right with the dog. I walked in and turned round to shut the door behind me and as I turned back the dog had got hold of my leg and wouldn’t let go.’
Crystal said her friend’s mum and stepdad were also in the hallway and ‘everyone just froze and was screaming’.
‘I don’t think anyone knew what to do,’ she explained.
‘I can remember my friend’s mum trying to get the dog off me. There was no way he was getting off. He did lock his jaw. But luckily, in the end, I think my friend’s mum had to put her hand into the dog’s mouth and pry the jaw open.
‘Still in shock, she said she didn’t feel any pain initially.
‘I didn’t understand what had happened, at first. There was no holes in my leggings, no blood. I thought I must have been okay. You’re numb and running on adrenaline. I didn’t feel any pain and walked to the living room. I went to sit down.’.
However, Crystal said her friend’s stepdad turned ‘nasty’ towards her and she was forced to go stand in the back garden.
She said: ‘He told all of us we couldn’t ring the police, I couldn’t have an ambulance. I had to leave the property, so my friend’s mum took me into the back garden and he left the dog in the window barking at me.
‘Having just been attacked by that dog, that’s very traumatising. You don’t want to see that five years later, let alone five minutes.
‘With nowhere else to sit, Crystal said she was put in the shed while her friend’s stepdad “shouted out of the window ”if you ring the police or an ambulance I will let this dog outside and it’ll get you again'”.
‘With everything that had happened I was like ”I’m not ringing anyone, I just want to go home and get my mum”,’ she said.
She had two surgeries and was left with holes in her leg and permanent nerve damage.
For several weeks she was walking on crutches and had to rebuild her muscle – though was relieved she didn’t need a skin graft.
‘I had so many scars on my leg from the attack, I just thought I don’t want anymore if I could help it,’ she said.
‘Body image at that age is very important.’
She was self-conscious about her scars for a couple of years until she learned they are ‘part of who I am, I can’t really hide it’.
However, the trauma of the attack has not gone away.
‘The mental scars of it have definitely worsened since I had my little boy,’ Crystal – whose son is four months old – continued.
‘They are getting worse as I get older.’
She said she is wary around all dogs, particularly if she has her son with her, and often needs accompanying if she takes him for a walk.
‘I could never have a dog myself,’ she added.
Crystal said shortly after she came out of hospital her friend’s stepdad continued to lash out, with the dog having been taken away by the police.
‘It was very odd. I get that he was upset at losing his dog,’ she explained.
‘About a week after I came out of hospital, he also smashed my stepdad’s car. That caused quite a lot of friction on me and my friend.’
Crystal believes the dog was held in kennels for around six months before being put down. She received £500 compensation after the case went through court.
‘I didn’t want the dog put down. I do believe it is the owner’s fault, not the dog. Because I knew the dog from such a young age, I knew it from a puppy,’ she said
Crystal said she was told due to the severity of the attack it would likely have happened again.
A woman later came forward and said the same dog had actually bitten her toddler’s lip but she hadn’t reported the incident at the time.
