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Woman tells of terror after being mauled by ‘snarling’ dog on Aberdeen street

by Dale Haslam
18/11/2019, 5:24 pm Updated: 19/11/2019, 7:57 am
Kristina Aburrow, left, and her injury
Kristina Aburrow, left, and her injury

A woman has spoken of her terror after being mauled by a “snarling” dog on an Aberdeen road.

Kristina Aburrow said the attack happened when she was walking down Great Southern Road in Aberdeen – and the artist said her injuries were so severe she feared she would lose her arm.

Now, the 34-year-old has received thousands of pounds in damages for the four-inch wound she sustained during the attack.

Kristina said: “I can’t describe the panic and fear of seeing this giant animal tear at you.

“The teeth. The snarling. It was terrifying.

“I genuinely thought it would rip my arm off.

“Now whenever I walk past big dogs I feel my heart pound.”

Kristina, who works as an art teacher and is based in Arbroath, described what happened on the day of the attack – September 18 last year.

She said that, as she crossed Great Southern Road, a woman walking two rottweilers crossed her path and one of the hounds lunged.

“There was no reason for that dog to go for me and I don’t know why it did,” said Kristina.

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She added: “It clearly grabbed my arm because it was at jaw-height – but what if a child walked past it instead of me?”

The bite caused two puncture wounds, which tore a 10cm gash around Kristina’s forearm.

No bones were broken and there was no infection but Kristina has been left with permanent numbness due to nerve and muscle damage.

As well as suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, Kristina was unable to cycle, hike or even do simple tasks like dress herself or prepare food for four months.

Lawyers representing Kristina tracked down the dog’s owner and brought civil proceedings, securing at least £10,000 in damages for Kristina.

Robert Kernaghan, partner at Digby Brown, which represented Kristina, said: “This was a truly traumatic incident for our client and, despite suffering a terrible physical injury, it’s often the scars we don’t see that have the biggest impact.”