A Pomeranian mix named Hugo died after it was mauled by another dog.

The 13-year-old dog sustained severe injuries on its abdomen, and was left "bleeding profusely" before it died.

Hugo's owner, Hadrian Tay, was left not only grief-stricken, but also disgruntled with how the owner of the attacking dog dealt with the situation.

He took to social media to recount the incident, hoping his story would serve as a "catalyst for change" so that no other family would suffer the same thing.

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Hadrian Tay (@hadriantay)

Attacked while on a walk

On the fateful day, Aug. 19, Hugo was leashed up for a walk which would turn out to be its last.

Hugo was accompanied by Tay's mother, as she had done many times before.

The pair were walking along their usual route at Block 11 Geylang Lorong 3, when they came across another dog.

Tay said the other dog grew "uncontrolled and aggressive", and "charged" at Hugo from about 100m away.

"Despite the lady owner’s attempt to restrain their dog, it broke free from its leash and viciously attacked Hugo, shaking him violently like a ragdoll," Tay said.

He said that the dog was about four times the size of Hugo.

Tay's mother recounted that the dog's owner tried to drag the animal away, but to no avail.

After Hugo was finally released from the dog's jaws, it was left lying listlessly on the ground.

"Hugo was struggling to breathe, with blood streaming from his mouth," Tay said.

He added that the lady owner called her husband down to deal with the situation, while she herself left with the dog.

Died from extensive injuries

Tay's mother called his sister, who immediately left work to send Hugo to the vet.

Tay himself took time off from reservist to see Hugo at the clinic.

"Hugo was immediately taken to the emergency room. The vet said surgery was necessary, but Hugo had to be stabilised first due to his critically low blood pressure."

Despite the vet's efforts to save the dog, Hugo later died.

Photos of Hugo's injuries showed the dog's abdomen heavily bruised and lacerated, with some wounds severe enough that its intestines were visible.

The dog's lungs were also punctured.

"Compensation"

According to Tay, the male owner of the attacking dog made a "deposit" of S$3,000 to the clinic.

This covered the bill, which came up to around S$1,000. The rest of the sum was meant to serve as "compensation" to the grieving family.

However, the leftover money was returned to the male owner, Tay told Mothership.

He added that the owner had initially offered to pay for Hugo's crematory services, but later backed out after being handed an invoice of S$1,900.

The owner allegedly claimed that Tay's family was trying to "take advantage" of him.

Decided against autopsy

Tay alerted the police and the Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS) to the incident, but decided against taking legal action.

"The legal route would require a full autopsy on Hugo," explained Tay, "This means cutting his body and brains open which is something we couldn’t bear."

As of now, Tay said he has yet to hear back from the authorities.

In response to Mothership's queries, The National Parks Board (NParks) confirmed that they'd received feedback regarding a case where a dog was allegedly fatally attacked by another dog.

Investigations are ongoing.

With the heaviest of hearts

Hugo was cremated on Aug. 20.

With this last act of closure, all that's left now for the family is for "justice to be done".

"As his family, we couldn’t endure seeing our beloved Hugo suffer any longer, especially after the way he was taken from us. With Hugo gone, no amount of compensation is enough. At this point, we have decided to give up on the compensation as our priority is to give Hugo the best send off possible."

Tay stressed that he wasn't out to point fingers at the dog that attacked Hugo.

Rather, he wishes to raise awareness about its owner's supposed negligence, which led to the death of Tay's beloved friend.

Speaking of Hugo's passing on his Instagram account, Tay said that it was "with the heaviest of hearts" that he had to say goodbye.

Top images via @hadriantay/Instagram