A Swedish man in Galicia to complete the Santiago Pilgrim route was badly mauled by a dog that had just been hit by a car last Monday.

The incident ocurred on the Avenida de las Américas in Lugo after the driver responsible drove off without stopping.

Jumping out of his own vehicle, the well-intentioned pilgrim was "brutally" bitten in the face, causing serious injuries to both lips, when he tried to pick up the fatally-injured beagle, which has since been put down.

Its devastated owners said that their dog might have jumped over the garden fence to chase after a bitch in heat.

Local dogs' home boss, Javier García Calleja, advised the public never to try and pick up an injured animal, but to "mark the spot where the accident occurred to alert other drivers, and then to phone the nearest Animal Protection Society."