ON April 15 I took my three young children to Clarence Park. I had never been there before, but I shall never set foot anywhere near the place again after what happened.

I took my family pet with us and in the distance we could see a gathering of men watching something.

To my horror I saw that a lady was trying to pull her bull mastiff dog off an elderly man. His arm was bleeding and he went to hospital before I could get his details.

Then, the bull mastiff broke loose from her and bolted towards us, sinking its teeth into our dog's back. The children were terrified.

I hit the dog with the lead, but to no avail and even the woman could not get the animal off.

Then the men we had seen earlier surrounded us as my children were screaming. It was like a dog fight for them to enjoy. My dog was 11 years old. The woman eventually got the animal tied to railings.

The police said they could do nothing, as both dogs were off the lead.

My little boy is now terrified of any dog and how sad it was to see their old pet dog being savaged. Why wasn't her dog muzzled?

My pet never got over the shock and recently died.

A message to those men: you could have helped us, but you decided to just stand there and watch.

Name and address supplied Ainsworth