Mail Online

Dog walker, 34, mauled to death in 8th attack this year

By Andy Dolan

A DOG walker has been mauled to death in a park – becoming the eighth Briton to be killed in a dog attack this year.

Ian Symes, 34, was walking a customer’s dog when he was attacked on Wednesday. Locals claimed that Mr Symes might have collapsed and had a seizure before the dog he was with ‘ate’ part of his face.

Although paramedics rushed to the scene in Fareham, Hampshire, Mr Symes was pronounced dead not long after.

Police arrested the 20-year-old owner of the dog – which locals claim might have been an XL Bully – for being in charge of an animal ‘dangerously out of control’.

A spokesman added that the man has now been released without charge ‘but remains under investigation ’.

Yesterday Mr Symes’s brother Martin thanked those who rushed to help, adding: ‘The facts are he was out walking a dog – something he loved to do. As sad as it is, at least he passed away doing something he loved.’

A father of two who lives near the park said: ‘Someone said [Mr Symes] might have had a seizure and then the dog ate part of his face.’ Another parent said the dog’s breed wasn’t known but added it had been taken by police.

Last month, Joanne Robinson, 43, was mauled to death by an American Bully dog after it ‘turned mad in the extreme heat’ in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

The other six victims of dog maulings this year include three toddlers and a three-month-old baby.

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