A solo mother has been left with a $10,500 bill after her pet's neck was broken in an attack by another dog whose owner has failed to fulfil a promise to foot the veterinary bill.
Vivienne Kent was walking her dog Booker on Mt Victoria at Devonport when she heard growling and looked up to see a great dane bearing down on them.
"It launched in the air and hit us both and knocked us down the mountain. I wasn't actually physically hurt at all, apart from some scratches and bruises, but I was just totally shocked, and my dog was screaming.
"And the great dane was standing over it and trying to bite him, and I squirted water in his face and screamed and shouted and the owner came and grabbed him."
Booker, a 6-year-old English bull terrier, suffered a broken neck in the fall. He was eventually sedated by a local vet and helped off the mountain by a council dog control officer and several members of the local fire brigade.