Police horse suffers multiple injuries in dog attack in London park
- Published
The Met advised people to "keep dogs on a lead if you can't recall them or get them under control"
A police horse has suffered multiple injuries after it was attacked by a dog in a park in east London.
The Met said PH Urbane was attacked by the animal, which was off the lead, in Victoria Park in Bow on Wednesday.
A video posted on social media shows a dog repeatedly biting the horse, which tries to jump up and turn away.
In a post on twitter, the Met Police said PH Urbane had been removed from duty while he recovered. There are no reports of people being injured.
Warning, this story contains graphic images
In the video, which was shared on TikTok, the attack continues for at least one minute.
The footage shows PH Urbane jumping up and spinning round to escape the brown dog, which continues attacking the larger animal.
Members of the public can be seen trying to intervene and separate the two animals, including with a large stick, and a police officer can be heard shouting at the person responsible for the dog.
Horse 'required stitches'
A Met spokesperson said: "The horse required stitches and is expected to return to duty following its recovery.
The dog remains in police kennels and officers are in contact with its owner. No arrests have been made."
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The tweet said: "We can't stress enough how important it is to keep dogs on a lead if you can't recall them or get them under control. Huge thanks to members of public who tried to help Urbane.
"He has been to the vets and is having some well-earned recuperation. He will hopefully be back on duty as soon as he has fully recovered, but not before."
Images in the post show PH Urbane with multiple bite wounds to his skin following the attack, along with an image of him eating while his right leg is bandaged.
The taskforce added on Twitter that the dog had since been "seized to be assessed".
Tower Hamlets Council does not have any byelaw forbidding dogs from being off-lead in Victoria Park.
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- Published16 March 2023
