HEARTBREAKING images show a seal that was mauled by out of control dogs after hauling out on a beach.
The grey seal pup was attacked by two greyhounds who spotted the animal laying in the sand at Hauxley Beach in Northumberland on Saturday.
The dogs’ owner allegedly didn’t have control of her pets as they attacked the defenceless animal.
Locals, Claire and Dave Stanley, heard barking and a commotion whilst out walking their own dog so ran over to find the animal just laying on its back, doing nothing, during the attack.
Graphic images show the poor seal laid on its back on the wet sand with chunks of flesh bitten away.
The area around its neck is covered in blood following the shocking incident.
It is unknown whether the seal pup survived the attack as it was washed away with the tide shortly afterwards.
British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) have now issued a warning to dog owners to control their dogs on beaches where seals may have hauled out.
Sharing the images on Saturday on social media, they said: “Sadly this poor pup was the victim of a brutal dog attack earlier today in north east England.
“Two of our medics just happened to be walking on the beach with their own dogs when they came across the terrible scene, with two uncontrolled greyhounds latched on to the pup that resulted in these awful injuries.
“The owner was clearly unable to control or recall their pets.
“With one medic keeping their own dogs safely away and able to snap these photos, our other Medic was able to intervene.
“Unfortunately the pup was caught by the incoming tide and washed out before it could be safely secured though.
“Our team are on alert in case it reappears as evidently it needs to be checked properly by a vet.
“In the meantime we once again want to raise awareness of the importance of having a properly trained and controlled dog when out anywhere that vulnerable wildlife can be found.
“Incidents like this are yet another in a long line of reminders we keep having to make to give this issue attention and urge dog owners to be more responsible when on the coast.
“We share our environment with wildlife and we have to be aware and respect that this is where they live.”
Claire also posted about the incident, writing: “What a traumatic morning for us.
“We’ve had the most emotional week with poorly seal pups and just out on a morning dog walk we come across lots of commotion and barking.
“On closer look there were two dogs and one being aggressive towards this seal.
“The poor seal was just lying there on its back doing nothing.
“Whilst I ensured our dogs were back on lead Dave ran over there to get this woman and her dogs away from the seal.
“Sadly this is the result of a dog attack.”
She added: “Please please we can’t stress enough , seal pups are now hauling out all over the place and are sometimes hard to spot.
“Be aware and please ensure you are able to recall your dog and restrain it.
“This is happening all over too many times.”
Animal lovers were left shocked by the incident.
Kellie Brown said: “If your dog won’t recall it should never ever be off a lead! Awful.”
Helena Gregory said: “Some people are so ignorant they should not be allowed to have dogs if they cannot control them this is the results of dogs not being in control.”
Pamela Watson said: “I hope the dog owners are suitably ashamed and have learned a lesson from this.
“Unfortunately it’s the poor seal that’s suffering the consequences of poor dog ownership. I really hope it’ll be ok.”
Tina Harvey said: “We are invading their home and domain, people should respect this like someone mentioned earlier if your dogs can’t behave or come back when called they should be kept on a lead/ long leash, so you have control!”
Volunteer Marine Mammal medic husband and wife Dave, 56 and Claire Stanley, 45 who spotted and treated the seal spoke today.
Dave said: “We were walking our Labs on the beach and could hear another dog barking. I said to my wife ‘god it’s a seal with a dog around it’.
“We could hear the dog bark about 10 to 15 minutes before we got there.
“There was a lady there with another dog, the seal was on its back whilst a dog was barking and circling it.
“The owner was telling me how it was usually a lovely dog and is very unlike it to behave so aggressively.
“Normally most dog owners are quite good, but this owner had no control of the situation.
“I had to tear the dog off the seal and my wife jumped in to see if she could treat it.
“You could see the seal track on the beach and it had clearly been disturbed in an area in the sand. There was a commotion with dog prints.
“I went back to the van to drop off our own dogs, this is also where we had our medical and rescue equipment.
“When my wife was assessing the seal it was clear that it was strong although incredibly stressed.
“Seals usually take a chunk out of each other but it was clear though our experience that this wasn’t done by a seal or by nature, it was the dog.
“With my wife doing a quick hands-on, you could see that the pup had a neck wound of about the size of a two pence piece coin in diameter and a couple of centimetres deep in the blubber.
“It’s face was cut and its rear flipper were also cut, Id take an educated guess as a marine medic that the dog did that.
“Seals are wild animals, if the dog woke the seal up and disturbed it, it’s common for a seal to go on the defensive.
“What people don’t often understand is that it’s natural for a seal to rest on land, especially after feeding as they are there to digest.”
Dave continued: “The tracks in the sand would indicate to me that it’s roughly 25kg in weight which is a young but healthy seal – between four to five weeks old.
“Because the seal was so close the sea and the tide was coming in we didn’t have time to move it to safety and treat it, if it was closer in-land we might have been able to take it to a vet.
“We were losing our footing with the tide and we didn’t have our lifejackets so our organisation suggests that’s dangerous. We have to make a decision what’s safe for the seal and for us.”
The married couple based in Amble became volunteer Marine mammal medics two years ago after receiving training from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue charity.
Dave added: “We’re a nation-wide charity and we answer to any marine mammal in distress, were all trained by the charity and there’s certain protocols.
“We decided that allowing the seal back into the sea was the best option for it. We watched it in the sea for about three to four minutes and it looked like it was trying to get its bearings back.
“They will often haul out again if they have major problems and it didn’t nor was it reportedly found anywhere, we walked up and down the coastline for about half an hour after to check too.
“I hope the seal has survived due to our intervention, I think the seal was in deep shock as it was on its back which is unusual.
“It must have been shock or had a heart attack from the stress that the dog would have caused.”
As seals are built for speed and agility in the water, they are slow to escape on land which leaves them vulnerable to attacks.
It’s estimated that there are now more than 120,000 grey seals in Britain, representing 40% of the world’s population and 95% of the European population.
Yet, this also means that attacks like these are more commonly found on British soil.
A popular seal known as ‘Freddie Mercury’, who was a favourite amongst London locals for being spotted in the Thames, was viciously attacked by a dog and had to be put down last year.
