A HEAVILY pregnant woman bitten in the stomach by a dog as she walked through Camden Town has spoken of her relief at being told by doctors that her baby has survived unscathed – but says she cannot sleep properly because of the flashbacks. Stacey Scannell, who has been “sofa-surfing homeless” for eight years and has spent nights on the streets in Camden Town, has bite puncture marks on her neck, belly and deep open wounds on her legs. Her baby is due in six weeks and she is worried about not having a home to raise her newborn in. Eyewitness accounts of the attack were featured on the front page of last week’s New Journal but now the 29-year-old is out of hospital she wanted to tell her side of the story. She said: “It is upsetting for the owner, I know, but if you can’t control your dog you shouldn’t be able to have one… It could have been a child. Something needs to change. There should be training and the dog should wear a muzzle and the right kind of lead. “I can’t sleep because I keep thinking about it. I’m having flashbacks. The police were told that it had never attacked anyone before …. but I thought that can’t have been its first taste for blood.” Ms Scannell has represented England in the Homeless World Cup and is a former Highgate Harrier who won gold medals in the hurdles at county level. She went to Acland Burghley and has an arts degree, and appeared as an extra in some TV shows in her early 20s. She also once worked at Crufts, the world’s largest dog show, and used to train her shitsu in Kennel Club summer clubs. Recalling the attack in Mary Terrace last month, Ms Scannell said: “There were two dogs and as I walked past, one of them just veered out at me and bit my belly. I think it was a Staffie. It bit me on my lower right leg. Then it was biting both legs, and underneath my thigh – viciously attacking me. I was on all fours trying to protect my neck – it was hanging on my neck. I pulled myself up on the railings and then I was screaming.” Ms Scannell featured several times in the New Journal’s sports pages in the 1990s and has FA coaching badges from an Arsenal training scheme. She became homeless in the fallout of an abusive relationship. After a visit to the Royal Free Hospital this week, she said: “I did have pains in the side and so I was worried when I got to hospital – but my boy [her unborn baby] is absolutely fine. I am in the process of healing but my legs are quite swollen.” She has been working as a part-time carer and does not claim benefits, but does not earn enough to rent in Camden and has been on the council housing waiting list for seven years. She said she had been affected by the recent changes to the way the Town Hall operates its housing list. “I am Camden born and bred but I can’t afford to rent around here. I just want a place that’s mine, somewhere that I’m not going to get moved out of,” Ms Scannell said. The council, currently considering how dogs should be controlled in public, said it would not comment on the incident. The Met Police said they were working with Ms Scannell and the dog owner and Ms Scannell said last night (Wednesday) that she had been told a decision on whether it was put down would be made in court. The council said it was “working closely with Ms Scannell and she is in regular contact with her caseworker who is discussing her housing options with her and working to prevent her homelessness”.