A DOG owner facing a huge vet bill has asked why police did not charge the owner of a bull terrier which fatally savaged her pet.

Radar, a ten-year-old Jack Russell, suffered serious injuries last month after the bull terrier came into the garden of his owner, Anne Rennison of Pottery Lane, York.

The bull terrier was with a group of children, but was not on a lead. It ran into Mrs Rennison’s garden and attacked Radar for 15 minutes, before being brought under control by his owner, a neighbour who had been alerted to the situation. The animal was destroyed at the scene by a police vet.

Radar survived for several days after the attack, but was later put down after it became clear he would not recover – leaving his heartbroken owner with a £520 bill. “It wasn’t my fault,” said Mrs Rennison, 57. “His dog got put down, but so did mine and now I am lumbered with a £520 vet’s bill. It shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Why have I got to pay this money?”

Mrs Rennison said she now fears she will end up in court because she is unable to pay the bill and said police should have charged her neighbour with owning a dangerous dog.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: “Following our attendance at an address in York on March 9 we used our authority under the dangerous dogs legislation to have a dog that had been behaving in a dangerous manner destroyed. This was done humanely by a vet.

“We were unaware that that Jack Russell had sadly died as a result of the attack. If the owner would like to report the death to us, we will investigate the allegations.”