Police fired Taser gun at dangerous dog attacking a man at a Burslem flat

UNITED KINGDOM -- POLICE fired a taser gun to bring a 'mad' illegal fighting dog under control after the animal attacked a man in a flat.

Dean Smith spent more than two weeks in hospital after being mauled by the banned Pit Bull breed in Burslem.

He suffered extensive mouth, face and ear injuries after the dog clamped its jaw around his neck.

Police later shot the dog after being called to the Port Vale Court flat by 34-year-old owner Gayle Davenport.

Gayle Davenport

The dog – which was three-and-a-half years old and weighed 4 st 3lb (27.5 kilos) – has now been destroyed.

Nicholas Berry, prosecuting, told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court: "Mr Smith had extensive injuries to his right ear, face and mouth. It took a significant amount of time for the officers to be able to gain control of the animal. In the end they had to taser the animal."

The court heard Davenport had owned the dog for about 10 months.

Peter McCartney, mitigating, said: "The dog had been very well behaved in that time but unfortunately on that day, it just went mad."

Davenport, of Davenport Street, Middleport, admitted owning an illegal fighting dog on June 13, on the basis that she did not know its breed. She also admitted a charge of being drunk and disorderly on August 21 and was in breach of a suspended prison sentence following an affray in July 2012.

She was sentenced to a 12-month community order with supervision and a six-month alcohol treatment requirement order.

Judge David Fletcher said: "It was a Pit Bull, it was a banned breed. But it was in her flat so no other breach of the Dangerous Dog Act has occurred."

The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 stipulates that it is a criminal offence if an out-of-control dog injures someone in a public place, or if the owner allows it to enter private property without permission.

But the Act does not cover injuries caused by a dog in a private home and attempts are now being made by top politicians to change the law.

Nadine Bellingham, aged 27, of Ballioll Street, Penkhull, who is backing calls for the law change after her five-year-old son Izaak was mauled by a dog at a friend's house, said: "This case shows why the law needs to be changed. Victims need to be given the power to prosecute so justice can be done."

Campaigners are also calling for 'banned' dog breeds to be removed from the streets.

Hilary Baxter, who runs Alsager Animals in Need, said: "The police have a responsibility to take banned breed dogs off the streets, but it is a very fine line between what is a banned breed and what is not."

(Stoke Sentinel - Nov 22, 2013)