It took three people to stop the rampaging bull-terrier which had its victim in a death-vice neck grip. The stricken dog had to be given an injection by the vet after going into shock, as well as stitches and a drip for the injuries it sustained.

Owner of the dog, Jim Greer who spoke to the Times, detailed the ferocity of the attack by the suspected Staffordshire bull-terrier which is similar to a pit-bull, but is a legal breed.

Jim Greer said: "I had been out with the dog for a walk in the Harryville area on Thursday (March 27]. We were making our way through the Shanlieve area, when I saw this dog coming full throttle towards my dog.

"It looked like a Staffordshire bull terrier. I tried to shield it from my dog, Prince. But there was no stopping it. It immediately began attacking Prince and then it grabbed Prince by the neck.

"It was choking Prince to death. It took three of us to get the dog off Prince. It was a brutal attack and it came very close to killing my dog."

Prince who had been subjected to life-threatening injuries four years ago, was left shaking and in a state of shock, like his owner.

Jim continued: "When I finally freed Prince, you could see it was in a state of shock and was shaking badly. There were big bite marks around its neck. When we took him to the vet, they said there had been damage done to the neck muscles as well as the puncture marks, so the dog had to be stitched and have a drip inserted for several days. The vet also gave the dog an injection because of the state of shock which it was in. I was in a state of shock myself."

Ballymena Dog Warden, Nigel Devine is investigating the attack. Jim says he does not want to see any dog put down, but wants more done to control large dogs.

"There has been a lot of reports of dog attacks in recent weeks and the numbers of pit-bulls seized. This just shows how simple an attack like this can happen, this dog was not leashed, so I think there should be more done to control these large dogs. I wouldn't want to see any dogs put down, but at the end of the day, my dog was lucky not to be killed and left with serious injuries and in complete shock."