A kennel maid has had an arm amputated at the shoulder and may lose the other after she was savaged by a rottweiler dog that she was exercising.

Mandy Peynado was found in a pool of blood by a passer-by after the dog, which had been brought in as a stray, turned on her. The large animal, which was later destroyed, dragged her to the ground by her coat and began biting her arms and legs as she tried to defend herself.

Surgeons were trying to save the left arm of Miss Peynado last night, but had to amputate her right one because of the damage that she had sustained.

Miss Peynado, 47, who lives with her mother in Salisbury, was in intensive care at Salisbury District Hospital last night. She is a kennel maid at the Knightwood Kennels in West Grimstead. Judith Wykeham, the owner of the kennels, said that the dog had been brought to them by New Forest District Council and may have had a troubled past.

Miss Peynado’s sister, Clare, said that she had feared she would die. She said: “We lost our Dad last year and I didn’t think last night that she was going to pull through. She came round quite quickly and is aware of some of her injuries.”

Mrs Wykeham said: “Apparently there was a history with the owner who abandoned the dog, and the police are investigating. We have heard that she’d been banned from keeping dogs for ten years, but we didn’t know this at the time.

“Rottweilers are notoriously unreliable. Mandy was playing with it the day before, tickling and rubbing its belly, and it was absolutely fine.”

New Forest District Council said that the rottweiler had been picked up as a stray in Ringwood, Hampshire. “It did not show any aggression either at the time it was seized or when it was seen at the kennels by our dog wardens,” a spokesman said.

Salisbury District Council and the Health and Safety Executive are investigating the attack.

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