The incident happened on a green space on Ballyshannon Road in the Kilmore area of Dublin 5, close to Beaumont Hospital, at around 11am while the owner was walking the dog.
Concerned locals described the incident as “terrifying”, and said armed gardaí as well as the fire brigade and ambulance responded to the emergency call.
“I heard the dog had some plastic in its mouth and the owner was trying to get it out and then the dog turned on him. He was trying to control the dog while he was being attacked, and there were people trying to help,” said one man.
“Then there was cars stopping and people in them trying to assist and pull the dog by the lead, but it was a big strong dog. The armed gardaí were out with incapacitant sprays and things but I don’t know if they used them. The man had obvious injuries and had to go to hospital,” said another local.
The dog was later destroyed after the out-of-hours dog warden from Dublin City Council was called to the scene to remove the animal.
A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said: “The Animal Welfare and Control Services Unit were called by An Garda Síochána to assist with dog attack in the Kilmore Area on Sunday 15th September.
“The dog in question, an XL bully, was removed by the Wardens Service under the Control of Dogs 1986 Act as Updated 1st December 2023 and humanely put down.”
The injured man has since been discharged from hospital and did not want to comment.
The incident comes less than two weeks after two English bulldogs were put down after attacking the mother of their owner in their home in the Cualanor Park area close to Sallynoggin and Dún Laoghaire on September 5, leaving her with serious injuries.
Emergency services and gardaí rushed to the scene in the early afternoon when residents reported the incident.
A woman who had heard the cries of the victim is also reported to have tried to get the dogs away from her until medics arrived.
The victim was taken by ambulance to St Vincent’s Hospital, where her condition at the time was described as serious but stable.
Her son agreed to have the animals destroyed, describing them as pets, and said that rumours that there was a so-called puppy farm or puppy mill at the apartment were not true.
“They were just pets. They were well treated and used to sleep on our beds with us. I don’t know what happened. I think one of them was the main aggressor and the other one was less involved, but they will both be put down,” he said.
Armed gardaí responded to that incident also.
Concerns have been raised about the number of serious dog attacks around the country in recent months.
On June 3, Nicole Morey was killed after two dogs attacked her at her home in Ballyneety, Co Limerick.
She had earlier been celebrating her 23rd birthday and had just returned home when the attack happened.
One of the dogs, an XL bully, was shot dead at the scene by gardaí. Three other dogs at the property were later destroyed.
The day before, gardaí received reports of a care worker being attacked by a number of dogs in the Maryland area of south inner-city Dublin.
Weeks later, a man needed hospital treatment after being attacked by a rottweiler in Co Donegal.
Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys recently announced a ban on XL bully dogs. From next month, the importing, breeding, selling and re-homing of such animals will be illegal, and owning them will be banned from February 1 except with special permission.
