Animal welfare officers are attempting to retrieve a swan that miraculously survived a vicious mauling by a dog.
The brutal attack took place on the beach near the Spinnies nature reserve at Aberogwen, near Bangor .
Dramatic video footage obtained by the North Wales rural crime team (RCT) shows that the savaging continued for at least two-and-a-half minutes.
“Unbelievably the swan survived and the RSPCA is trying to retrieve it for vital treatment,” the team tweeted.
Despite its wounds – the video shows the dog ripping chunks of feathers from the prone swan – the bird managed to escape off the beach to the sea.
RSPCA Cymru officers were alerted and began the tricky task of locating and recovering the injured swan for treatment.
“I gather they are struggling to catch it,” said RCT manager Rob Taylor.
RCT officers described the incident as “disturbing” and condemned the dog’s owner as a “disgraceful”.
Neither the dog nor its owner have yet been identified.
The team tweeted: “How any dog owner can feel that allowing their pet to rip another animal apart is normal is truly abhorrent – they should never be allowed to own a dog again and face the stiffest sentence the law allows.
“We are shocked and need the public’s help to find this dog owner.”
Attacks by dogs on swans are uncommon but they do happen – one was killed by a dog in north Pembrokeshire last September.
And in January a swan with injuries to its chest was found in the centre of Rhyl . Vets suspected the wound may have been caused by a dog and RSPCA Cymru was forced to put the bird to sleep.
Mr Taylor said: “Dogs will usually struggle to attack a swan as they can be quite aggressive, unless they are injured and the dog takes advantage.”
Horrified Twitter users criticised the bystander who filmed the incident for not intervening.
“So rather than saving the swan... they stood and watched the dog attacking it and videoed it.... they are as bad as the dog owner,” said one user.
However Mr Taylor said every situation was different and getting involved was not always advisable.
He drew comparisons with the horrific killing of a sheep on the Great Orme , Llandudno , in which three dogs were filmed by a teenage girl.
“It’s a judgement call that depends on the circumstances,” he said.
“Not everyone is comfortable near dogs, especially when they are carrying out a frenzied attack.
“In these situations we would advise people to err on the side of caution.”
- Anyone with information should phone North Wales Police on 101.
