Cyclist slams dog owner after being attacked by ‘brown psycho spaniel’ in Staveley

The man was cycling along the Trans Pennine Trail when the incident took place near Lowgates Bridge at around 4pm on Sunday.

In a post on the ‘Staveley and surrounding areas community resource’ Facebook page, he urged the dog’s owner to ‘learn how to control’ their pet.

He said: “To the old lady with the brown psycho spaniel in Staveley (the one that attacked a cyclist i.e. me) at 4 pm on the trans pennine trail at the lowgates bridge, maybe you should either learn how to control your dog or put a muzzle on him...next time it might be a small child on a bike he goes for.”

The cyclist later said he confronted the owner about being bit, to which she replied her dog had ‘never done that before’.

The social media post has divided opinion, with some dog owners sharing their own experiences.

One person said: “Not defending either party here but my spaniel is absolutely terrified of bikes and reacts nastily towards them too! He’s had so many come flying up behind us when out walking that he thinks every bike is now a threat!

"Like I say, not defending anyone but always worth bearing in mind ringing your bell and slowing down when approaching dogs.”

Another said: “My border collie is scared of them..we don’t go down there anymore.”

A third said: “Bikers speed up behind and scare alot dog not saying you have done this but this does happen and all the dog will do is protect its owner.”

However, another resident added: “I ride canal a lot and have a old stile the type with the two hamers inside and get loads walkers thank me but there are a lot of people that can't control there dogs of the lead.

"The people that can I thank them as I pass, but in 2018 riding the Stotley Trail I was put in hospital at Northern General for three months after a bull terrier that I had already passed that was off the lead chased me snapping at my heels then overtook me and and ran into my front wheel so yes there are bad cyclists and bad dog owners.”

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