I WOULD like to tell your readers of a case cruelty inflicted on my dog near Leasowe beach.

My pet is a ten-month-old golden retriever and when we arrived at the beach I took her out to the sea to play.

She is well-trained to her whistle but sometimes gets distracted due to her age and will go up to people to say "hello". 

Unfortunately she ran over to a lady with a young child sitting on a picnic rug.

The woman then picked up a stick and, holding my dog's collar, started to whip her on the face cutting it several times.

I asked her to stop and apologised for my dog's actions, but she continued to hit her.

As I walked away very upset, her husband came over to me and started to yell, using foul language.

Later I spoke to my vet and he agreed the cruelty towards my dog went far beyond just chasing her away and was a form of abuse.

I fully understand the woman was just protecting her child, and my dog was in the wrong.

But we need to have an agreed time for dog-walkers in the summer to exercise our pets safely on the beach – and people wanting to be on the shore at these times must realise it’s the dogs' time to be there.

Name and address supplied