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One of Princess Anne’s bull terriers attacked another dog during a recent royal outing, a new report claims.
An English Bull Terrier owned by the Princess Royal, 72, “sank its teeth into a gamekeeper’s dog and bit its ear at Sandringham,” The Sun reported Tuesday. The incident is said to have occurred on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, last month. Members of the royal family were reportedly out shooting pheasant, a traditional countryside activity on the Norfolk estate, when the attack occurred.
According to the outlet, both dogs survived the incident, but the event was upsetting. Buckingham Palace declined to comment when reached by PEOPLE.
“The Boxing Day shoot’s a huge family affair so Anne took along her dog. It ran across the field straight at the gamekeeper’s dog and latched on to its ear. The Bull Terrier really went at it in a frenzy,” a source told The Sun.
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“There was a lot of blood and a lot of screaming and a lot of shouting. It took a while to get the dog off the ear because it had really sunk its teeth in,” they continued. “Everyone was okay in the end but the atmosphere was extremely tense afterwards for some time.”
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This isn’t the first time one of Princess Anne’s Bull Terriers has made headlines. In 2002, she was ordered to court after her Bull Terrier named Dotty escaped from her control during a walk in the park at Windsor Castle and bit two young boys, The New York Times reported. Anne pled guilty and paid a fine, becoming the first senior-ranking British royal to be convicted of a criminal offense in modern times.
The following year, another one of Anne’s Bull Terriers attacked another dog — a corgi belonging to Queen Elizabeth II. PEOPLE reported at the time that Anne’s dog Florence attacked the Queen’s corgi Pharos, who had to be put down.
