A SOUTHAMPTON woman is concerned about the growing number of dog attacks after her pet was attacked at a park.

It was dusk on Sunday when her two-year-old Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Milo, was attacked by a staffie belonging to a stranger.

It happened at about 3.45pm in Riverside Park.

"We were on the path and this couple came up with a black and white young staffie," said the resident, who wishes to remain anonymous.

"They said hello. The dog seemed friendly for the first five seconds and then it just went for him and took a chunk of Milo's fur."

The 33-year-old said that a chunk of fur was taken from behind Milo's ears, despite both dogs being on leads.

She told the Echo that there was a "really lovely" jogger who stopped to make sure they were okay after it happened, and she would like to find and thank this woman.

She said: "The couple with the dog just left. They saw the chunk of hair and just left pretty quickly. They kind of mumbled I'm sorry and then went off.

"It just went for him and took this chunk of fur out and then this really lovely woman who was jogging stopped and made sure I was okay.

"She looked like a similar age to me, early 30s. She was drenched because it was raining.

"I would like to find her and say thank you. She took her headphones out, saw what happened. She was really lovely.

"I couldn't believe that somebody stopped and tried to help."

She added: "We do not think the owners should have let the dog get as close to me as they did. I know my dog's behaviour.

"The attacks are getting more frequent in the area which is quite concerning. It really caught me off guard.

"I am quite concerned that it seems to be quite frequent and other people are commenting about dog attacks in the park. It just seems to be on the rise."

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