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Adur district councillor Gabe Crisp, who represents St Nicholas ward, said she was canvassing for the Green Party in Lancing ahead of May’s local elections, when a resident’s “big dog” attacked her.
She said: “I reckon it was no more than five seconds after the door opened because I had not even introduced myself.”
Cllr Crisp said the dog grabbed her by the left arm, biting through four thick layers of clothes and injuring her, then also biting through her hand, making it bleed.
The resident then called their partner to help call off the dog, after which Cllr Crisp said she turned around before the dog bit her again on her right knee and left thigh.
“I was extremely shocked and in a lot of pain, plus a bleeding hand,” she said.
“The second resident had by now got the dog under control and gone back into the property with it. The first resident followed me along the street asking if I was OK.
“I was not really in a fit state to speak to her. I was sobbing and probably swearing from the shock and the pain. I asked them to leave me alone.”
She said after asking another candidate canvassing nearby to take her home, she decided to take the bus to Worthing Hospital and was seen in A&E within three hours.
She said “thankfully” there was no nerve or tendon damage to her hand.
“There are real dangers of people not controlling their dogs and this story could be a cautionary tale to remind owners to shut the dog in another room before they answer the door,” Cllr Crisp said.
“With local and general elections coming up there is going to be a lot of doorstep canvassing and people should be aware.”
Cllr Crisp says she did not wish to identify the owner of the dog or area in which they live and said she was not seeking prosecution or compensation as a result of the incident but she had called the police non-emergency 101 line to report an out of control dog.
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