Puppy walker horror

Jane Emerick
A vicious attack on a dog owner and her pet as they walked along a Torquay beach has left the woman traumatised and unable to work, police have alleged.
The man allegedly tried to strangle both the woman and her fourmonthold kelpie as they walked on Fisherman’s Beach after 8pm on January 15.
Torquay Police Senior Constable Lisa Kearney described the attack as shocking.
“I can’t remember an incident as vicious in my 22 years here,” Sen Const Kearney said.
She labelled the 51yearold man as “excessively aggressive” after police had their own runin with the man when they arrested him at a booze bus in Torquay on Good Friday.
Sen Const Kearney said four witnesses described seeing the woman’s puppy run up to a family eating on the beach before the January attack.
“The father of the family picked it up by the scruff of its neck and strangled it above his head,” she said.
“He then threw the dog from above his head onto the sand.”
The witnesses alleged the man began chasing the dog before the woman threw herself on top of her pet.
The man then allegedly attacked the woman, strangling her and yelling “fat bitch…I’m going to kill you and your dog”.
Sen Const Kearney described the dog as a “cute little thing”.
The man used “excessive force” to stop the dog approaching his family, she said.
Sen Const Kearney arrested the man at a booze bus last Friday after he verbally abused police.
“He used finger gestures and called us idiots,” Sen Const Kearney said.
“He was pretty nasty and threatening us. He said we were holding him up.”
Sen Const Kearney said the man left the booze bus but returned 10 minutes later to argue further with the police.
“That’s when I got his name and when I realised who it was I said ‘right, you’re coming with me’.”
Sen Const Kearney said the man had “aggression issues” and faced charges of cruelty to animals, assault and threatening to kill.
He also faced charges for threatening police and careless driving.
Sen Const Kearney said the alleged victim was visiting a psychologist, feared going to the beach and was unable to remain in her fulltime job.
The dog was traumatised but uninjured, Sen Const Kearney said.
Sen Const Kearney said the man denied the allegations and showed no remorse.
“I can’t remember an incident as vicious in my 22 years here,” she said.