78-year-old pensioner savaged by his rottweiler in fatal attack

A PENSIONER was “dragged like a doll” through the street in a fatal attack by his dog.

Witnesses looked on in horror as railway engineer James Rehill, 78, was savaged by his rottweiler in Newham, east London.

Residents armed with baseball bats tried to free Mr Rehill as the dog inflicted injuries to his face and head.

It was only when police officers arrived and discharged six fire extinguishers that the dog released its owner.

Paramedics took Mr Rehill to Royal London Hospital after the incident at around 7am on Sunday but he died later that day.

Officers called to the scene to protect the public, found the dog a short distance away and shot it.

Metropolitan Police Commander Nick Bracken said: “This is a very tragic incident and our thoughts today are with the family and friends of the deceased man.”

The attack, in New City Road, Newham, has reignited the debate around the ownership of potentially dangerous dogs.

One witness Aziz Rahman, 32, said dogs like rottweilers should not be allowed out in public.

“I heard some banging on the door. I looked out of my bedroom window.

“There was a man lying on the floor and a dog was over him, licking and biting him. He looked like a doll, the dog was pulling at him. It looked like he was attacking the man. There was blood all over his face,” he said.

Mr Rahman said the man was treated “like a piece of meat” and described the police officers who rescued him as “heroes”.

But taxi driver Lee Hanson insisted that the dog was not attacking the man but trying to help him.

Mr Hanson, who often saw Mr Rehill walking the dog and described them as “best friends”, said: “The dog wasn’t attacking him at all ... It was banging his head, trying to wake him up.”

His colleague Bill Collins said he often saw the man walking the animal and did not believe it was a “mad dog”.

Ryan O’Meara, the editor of K9 magazine who is campaigning for a dog ownership certificate, said the circumstances of the attack are contradictory.

Mr O’Meara, a dog behaviourist who owns a rottweiler, said it would be unusual for a dog to suddenly turn on its owner in such circumstances.