THE family of a man with Asperger's syndrome whose dog was attacked in York have appealed for witnesses to contact the police.

Stuart Byron, 32, was visiting York with his family to take part in the Plusnet Marathon earlier this month, and was walking in the city on Tuesday, October 13.

Stuart's mother Joan said Stuart's Aspergers Syndrome had led him to be an introvert and withdrawn, until he adopted a rescue dog. Wendy, an eight-year-old Jack Russell crossbreed had been found tied to a lamppost and was taken in by the Dogs Trust.

Stuart, who also has a chronic heart condition, was in Spurriergate with his family when Wendy was attacked by a large white dog, believed to be a bull mastiff.

Joan said: "It just shot up and took a great big piece out of Wendy's side. The owners didn't do anything about it.

"Stuart was trying to pull the dog off Wendy by holding its jaw, it had a harness on and I tried to pull it back and fell backwards as it was such a big dog.

"When I got to my feet there was Stuart holding Wendy and Wendy with an enormous hole in her side bleeding everywhere. Stuart took off his jumper and wrapped it around Wendy to try to stay the bleeding."

Wendy was left bleeding by the attack, which was witnessed by a group of passers-by, and caught on CCTV by the Morrisons Local store.

Joan and Stuart, who is from the Liverpool area, got in a taxi with Wendy and took her to a veterinary surgery, and later returned to the scene with police, to explain what had happened.

Since then, Wendy has had a number of operations, firstly a two-and-a-half hour procedure to deal with her immediate injuries, and a second a week later to remove necrotic skin and re-stitch her wound, along with x-rays and blood tests.

York Press:

Wendy is now recovering

Joan said: "Poor old Wendy, looks like Frankenstein's monster. If she'd have been a very slim dog, she wouldn't be here now.

"We just hope the police and council can do what's necessary and prosecute. I'm a dog lover but I want this one destroyed because it could have been a child. If it had attacked a kid, that child wouldn't be here any more. We also want to thank the people who helped us, they were absolutely great, as was PCSO Simon Hall who took the time to ring us the next day and found out how Wendy was."

A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire Police said the owner of the dog, and the person with them at the time of the attack had been identified by North Yorkshire Police from the CCTV footage. Their details have been passed to City of York Council, who will deal with the prosecution.

Anyone who witnessed the attack, or has information which could help police or the council, should phone 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.