A dog helping an autistic child had to be rescued by members of the public after it was set upon

by two pit bull terriers, a court has heard.

Truro magistrates heard that a dog, Shiloh, belonging to Natasha Holland of Pendeen, was one of the two and had been seized.

On August 22 Shiloh and another pit bull terrier called Chopper, who were both of an illegal breed, were involved in the attack on the assistance dog.

PC Phil Nankivell told magistrates: “Thankfully the dog was not seriously injured, nor was anyone else.

“Other people intervened to try and pull them off the assistance dog.”

He said that the pit bulls had been taken out by a man who was Holland’s partner at the time. Chopper belonged to him, and Holland had no idea he had taken her animal with him.

The animals were on leads, but no-one was on the end of the leads, and their behaviour was totally irresponsible for this type of dog.

“It could have been a lot worse than it was,” the officer added.

He said Shiloh was a nice dog towards people and not a risk to the public, but had “a bit of an attitude” to other dogs.

“We know she is potentially aggressive towards other dogs, and just needs a lot more responsible ownership.” Holland, of Moorland Close, Pendeen, Penzance, did not oppose his application for a contingent destruction order, giving her two months in which to have her dog spayed, micro-chipped, third party insured, and on the lead and muzzled in a public place and in the charge of a person over 16 years.

Failure to comply with this direction could result in the police applying for a destruction order for the animal.

PC Nankivell said that Chopper, already on the registered pit bull terrier list, was going to be destroyed, because its owner did not comply with similar court-ordered requirements, and it should have been muzzled and on a lead.

He added that he did not think the incident with the assistance dog would have happened if Chopper’s owner had not taken Shiloh out.

Holland told the magistrates she was ending her relationship with her former partner.

She said: “He took my dog without my permission,” adding that her little boy was “really upset” at losing Chopper, due to its owner’s stupidity.

The magistrates agreed to make the contingent destruction order.