Play all audios:
Police issue update as man, 84, fights for life after dog attackThe pensioner was walking along the road when he was attackedNewsOlivia Williams Senior reporter12:41, 26 Feb 2025Updated
14:54, 26 Feb 2025Police forensics at the scene of a dog attack on Bardsley Avenue in Warrington(Image: Liverpool ECHO) Police have issued an update after an elderly man was attacked by a
dog. Armed police descended on Bardsley Avenue, Warrington, at around 6.40pm on Monday, February 24 following reports the pensioner had been left seriously injured in an attack which took
place in the front yard of someone's home.
The 84-year-old man had been walking along the road when he was attacked by the dog, which is believed by Cheshire Police to be an XL Bully. It had reportedly escaped from a nearby home.
Armed police killed the dog outside the property. A second suspected XL Bully was also killed inside the property and a third smaller dog was also seized. Cheshire Police said firearms
officers fired 19 shots at the dogs due to "the sheer size and ferocity of these animals".
In an update today, a spokesperson for the force confirmed the man remains in hospital in a "critical but stable condition". They added the injuries the man suffered will impact him for
the rest of his life and are deemed as "life changing".
A 29-year-old woman was arrested on Monday on suspicion of being in possession of a dog dangerously out of control causing serious injury. Police confirmed today the woman has since been
released on conditional bail. Officers were also trying to locate a 40-year-old in relation to the incident.
A police scene on Bardsley Avenue in Warrington after a dog attack outside a property(Image: Liverpool Echo)Article continues below Vic, who lives across the street from the property where
the attack happened, told the ECHO he "saw everything happen". He said: "I was looking through the kitchen window and saw a guy lying on the floor in the driveway over the road. I thought
he'd had a heart attack. Then I saw this massive dog.
"I ran over and battered it with my yard brush. I cracked it over the head, but it didn’t work. It wouldn’t get off him. I should have got a knife from the kitchen, really, but I didn't
think. I just grabbed the brush. If I'd had a gun handy I'd have used that."
Vic had the presence of mind to call to a neighbour over the street to ask them to call the police. He said armed police were rapidly on the scene to deal with the attack.
"The police arrived and we were told to get in," he said. "We had to move away because the dog could have attacked us. All the neighbours were out in the street. I went back inside and
looked through the window and saw the police shoot the dog dead. There were four or five shots."
Vic told the ECHO he didn't know the elderly victim, but said it was "horrible" to see him lying on the ground helpless. "It was really horrible," he said. "I'm traumatised by what happened.
There was blood on my boots and over my brush. It was everywhere."
He said he left his brush outside his home after the attack and it was taken away by police. A forensics team was seen removing a yardbrush from the cordoned off property this afternoon.
A police scene on Bardsley Avenue in Warrington after a dog attack outside a property (Image: Liverpool Echo) Cheshire Constabulary Chief Constable Mark Roberts said: “This was an innocent
man who was simply walking in the street when he was horrifically attacked by a suspected unregistered XL Bully. These dogs are like weapons; their physical attributes can make it like
owning a loaded firearm with a questionable safety catch.
“The sheer size and ferocity of these animals mean that our firearms officers had to discharge 19 shots into them – all of which hit their targets - in order bring the incident to a
conclusion and ensure the safety of the public. While the victim is now receiving the treatment that he requires, there is no doubt that this incident will impact him for the rest of his
life.
Article continues below “The danger to the public that these dogs pose is well known, which is why Cheshire Constabulary has been extremely proactive in enforcing the new regulations. So far
we have already removed more than 100 XL Bullies from the streets of Cheshire, and we are committed to doing all we can to ensure that those who don’t comply with the new regulations are
held accountable.”
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Cheshire Police at www.cheshire.police.uk/tell-us, or call 101, quoting IML 2034464. For more details in relation to the laws surrounding XL
Bully dogs visit - Ban on XL Bully dogs - GOV.UK.