Brian and Cathleen Cushnaghan were walking their dog Daisy in Derby Reach Regional Park last week when a man attacked them after a scuffle between two dogs.

Brian and Cathleen Cushnaghan were walking their dog Daisy in Derby Reach Regional Park last week when a man attacked them after a scuffle between two dogs.

Photograph by: Matthew Claxton , Langley Advance

A Langley man was beaten on a popular local trail after he argued with another man about an off-leash dog.

Brian Cushnaghan and his wife Cathleen were walking their beagle, Daisy, on the Houston Trail in Derby Reach Regional Park on Friday, Oct. 26 at about 4: 40 p.m.

The couple was nearing the end of the trail when a man came up behind them, with a large dog off leash running ahead of him.

Daisy, who was on a leash, was becoming nervous, and Brian and Cathleen said they moved over to the side of the trail to let the others pass.

The bigger dog, which looked like a Rhodesian ridgeback, possibly with some Labrador in it, turned around and attacked the 20 pound Daisy, grabbing her by the neck. The big dog held Daisy down, and Brian tried to free his family's pet.

"I tried to kick it away," said Brian.

Freeing his dog from the grip of the bigger animal led to a confrontation with the ridgeback's owner.

The Cushnaghans say the young man charged over, screaming, swearing, and threatening Brian for kicking his dog.

The man shoved Brian twice, the second time causing him to drop Daisy's leash.

Before turning to grab the dog's lead, Brian said he told the other man that this all could have been avoided if the big dog had been on a leash, per park rules.

Brian turned, and the other man then tackled him from behind into a ditch.

As soon as he landed, Brian knew he was in trouble.

"I was in excruciating pain, I almost passed out," he said.

His shoulder was dislocated and he could barely move. Unable to fight back, he was pinned down by the man, who kept hitting Brian in the face.

Cathleen tried to pull the man off, but because of his buzz-cut, he didn't have enough hair to grab. She finally took a hold of both ears and yanked, and he then tried to hit her, she says.

He finally got up and fled when Cathleen yelled that she had called the police.

The man grabbed his dog and walked away quickly towards the north end of the park.

The Cushnaghans tried to find out who their attacker was before heading for the hospital. They wrote down the license plate numbers of all the cars in both the north and south parking lots of the Houston Trail.

However, they have no way of knowing if the attacker managed to get away before they got his number.

The Langley RCMP are now investigating the attack, said a spokesperson for the local detachment.

As for Brian, he has a prominent black eye and his arm is in a sling. The railroad employee can't go in to work, as operating train controls requires holding both arms above his shoulder to pull levers.

He was to see a specialist this week to see how serious his injuries are. He seems to have fractured a part of his humerus near the shoulder, and he's been suffering numbness in two fingers on that hand.

Daisy was not seriously hurt. The family, who moved to Canada from South Africa more than a decade ago partly to become citizens in a safer country, are shocked at the incident.

"This kind of behaviour is not acceptable in Langley," said Cathleen.

Brian said the attack won't stop them from walking on the Houston Trail - the vast majority of people they've met there over the years have been nice.

"I'm a little bit nervous, to be honest with you," Cathleen said.

Neither had ever see the man with the big dog before that day.

They described the attacker as a white man, about 5'11", well built with short, buzz-cut brown hair. He was wearing a brown sweatshirt and jeans on the day of the attack. The man's dog was reddish brown.

Anyone with information that could identify the attacker can call the Langley RCMP at 604532-3200 or, to remain anonymous, CrimeStoppers at 1-800-2228477 (TIPS).