A POSTAL worker feared he was going to be killed when a massive nine-and-a-half stone dog attacked him “like a pack of wolves” as he delivered parcels in Silverton.
Justin Wee suffered significant hand, arm and leg wounds when he was bitten several times by the Tibetan Mastiff dog called Lionel.
She was convicted after a trial at Exeter Magistrates Court and the 22-month-old dog has been moved to an animal sanctuary as a direct alternative to being put down.
Parcel Force worker Mr Wee had been delivering a package to Mrs Lewis Marffy’s home when Lionel broke free from her grasp as she tried to restrain him.
He smashed through a patio door and jumped up at him, grabbing him and forcing him to the ground.
Mr Wee told magistrates he could not outrun the dog and get to the safety of his van so he sought shelter in her home, only for the dog to bite the back of his legs.
He feared he would bleed to death and tried to protect his face and neck from the dog which was biting down on his arm as a second smaller dog also nipped him.
He suffered deep cuts and told the court: "I felt it was going to kill me. It was like a pack of wolves. It was terrifying.”
He rejected the defence's suggestion that he had opened the patio door to deliver the parcel to Mrs Lewis Marffy saying: "It was aggressive and snarling, there is no way I would open doors with that dog there."
In a statement to police Lewis Marffy admitted Lionel had “escaped from the front door and caused injury to the Parcel Force man”.
She said she had never had an issue with him outside her home before and added: "I do not want him to be destroyed."
Exeter magistrates ordered Lionel to be “kept under proper control” at a Welsh charity sanctuary for the rest of his life.
Marffy must pay £1,000 compensation and £200 court costs, and she was conditionally discharged for two years.