A WOMAN has been banned from keeping dogs for 15 years after her two bull crosses savaged a dog walker and her pet and ripped the throat out of a greyhound.

Emily Mace used the carcases of squirrels and rabbits to train the powerfully built bullherders to fight but was unable to control them when they went into attack mode.

They left a 64-year-old dog walker with bite wounds and massive bruising on one arm after she intervened to rescue her miniature schnauzer Lola from them on land at Long Barton, Kingsteignton.

The dogs went on to kill Mace’s own greyhound Blake in a horrific attack in her back garden which was filmed by a neighbour. A vet who examined Blake’s body concluded he had suffered a terrifying and agonising death.

Mace filmed herself and her then partner using bite sleeves to train the dogs named Conan and Lola to bite and hold on to a potential victim. She also posted comments on social media which boasted they could ‘take down a retriever any day’.

The dogs, named Conan and Honcho., were crosses between a pitbull type terrier and a shepherd and she advertised their puppies on a ‘working dogs’ website as bullherders. The adverts included a photo of a dog lunging forward with its teeth bared.

Honcho has since died and Conan has been rehomed to an address with a secure garden. A decision on whether he should be destroyed at a later hearing.

Tan coloured Conan attacked dog walker Janet Collins on the afternoon of August 15, 2021, and left her needing hospital treatment for a bite on her torso and several on her hands, which were mauled as she tried to protect her miniature Schnauzer Lola.

The attack started with Conan biting Lola when all three were off the leads.

Mrs Collins ran to pick up Lola and Conan then jumped up and bit her as he tried to get at her dog. Honcho also jumped at her.

Mrs Collins said Honcho joined the attack but said she did not know which of the dogs bit her. Lola needed emergency treatment for a wound to her rear but survived

Mace, aged 21, of Little Barton, Kingsteignton, admitted being in charge of a dog which caused injury while dangerously out of control and allowing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

She was jailed for a year and ten months, suspended for two years, ordered to do 20 days of rehabilitation activities, and pay £500 compensation by Judge Anna Richardson at Exeter Crown Court.

The judge banned her from keeping dogs for 15 years because she is expecting a baby in two months’ time and the judge said the order needed to be long enough to protect her unborn child.

She told Mace: 'Mrs Collins was utterly terrified for her dog and herself and suffered pain in the immediate and for some time afterwards. She has suffered emotional trauma and was unable to be at home for a short time.'

'Having been in an abusive relationship, you sought comfort from animals but demonstrated a total lack of understanding of the risk they posed and how to treat and train them.'

Miss Victoria Bastock, prosecuting, said Mrs Collins had written a victim impact statement which said: 'I have never been so scared in my life. I could not believe how anyone could be as cold and uncaring as she was.'

She said the attack on Mrs Collins happened on August 15, 2021, and the attack on Mace’s own greyhound on March 18, 2022. A vet called to Mace’s house found Blake had been left in a pool of blood in a shed.

The dog was already unconscious, had lost at least a litre of blood, and was euthanised because the injuries to his throat were unsurvivable.

Miss Evie Dean, defending, said Mace has had to move and give up her job at a fast food restaurant after receiving death threats in a social media hate campaign.

She is seven months pregnant and has been assessed as a good prospect for rehabilitation in a probation pre-sentence report.