Isobel Barker, 46, needed physiotherapy after the attack in a Heatherton street. Now she and her family have sold up and are leaving the estate where the incident, involving a greyhound-cross and an Alsatian, happened.
The woman responsible for the dogs at the time of the attack, Jaswinder Kaur, of Field Rise, Heatherton, admitted two charges of being in charge of dangerously out of control dogs at a hearing at Chesterfield Magistrates Court earlier this month.
The same charges were also made against her husband, Councillor Balbir Singh Sandhu, who represents Normanton. He pleaded not guilty and the charges against him were thrown out.
The family has apologised for the incident, which happened in Squires Way last September, and say measures have been taken to make sure a similar incident doesn’t happen again.
Isobel said the court decision not to automatically have the dogs put down had shocked her. She said: “If my dog bit someone I would have it put down. I wouldn’t hesitate.”
She had been out walking the family dog, a Labradoodle, called Murphy, with her seven-year-old daughter, when the incident happened.
“I said to my daughter, we’ll just nip round the block with the dog. She went on her scooter. As I got into Squires Way, I saw these two enormous dogs. Within a few seconds they were on us. The greyhound jumped on my dog. He got my dog’s neck in his jaws and held him flat to the floor.”
Isobel said she shouted at her daughter to run home.
She said: “She set off but the Alsatian went after her at full speed. It got in front of her and was baring its teeth and snarling and it herded her back towards us.”
Isobel said she told her daughter to hide and she jumped into a hedge. She said she was crying “Mummy, am I going to die?”
She said: “A woman pulled up and shouted, ‘Get into my car’. I shouted at my daughter to do it. She made a run for it but the Alsatian went after her.”
Isobel said the Alsatian then returned to her, at which point a man came from his house to help. She said: “I can’t be sure what dog bit me. But I was bitten twice on my left hand.” Isabel was eventually able to free Murphy from the jaws of the greyhound while the man held it down.
She said of her daughter: “She told me she thought she was going to die.”
Isobel said she needed hospital treatment herself for a “deep dog wound” that had led to her hand swelling. She said Murphy had needed vet treatment for puncture injuries and that he was now “a very anxious dog”.
She said: “We’ve sold up and we are moving away. It’s purely because of the attack. The impact it had on us is huge. We are hoping it will help my daughter psychologically and definitely me.”
After attacking Isobel and her daughter, the dogs then started attacking a miniature Jack Russell, called Jacky, being walked by owner Grazyna Holyst.
Grazyna, who lives off Squires Way, said: “The greyhound wouldn’t let go of Jacky. I didn’t want to let him off the lead because they would chase him and could kill him.”
Grazyna said the Alsatian also attacked her dog.
Jatinder Singh, who said the dogs were in his name, said, on behalf of the family, that “all preventative measures had been taken” to ensure that a similar incident didn’t happen again.
He said: “Everything has been done right. There’s no way anything could happen. We’ve put prevention measures in place. They have been independently verified, and the court are aware [of what has happened] and sanctioned it. All the apologies have been made in court for any wrongdoings and we are sincerely sorry.”
On the day of the attack, Balbir Singh Sandhu told the Derby Telegraph: “My dogs went missing at about six o’clock. My dad opened the gate and didn’t close it. He has had two strokes and it’s affected his memory. I want the woman to know I am very sorry and I will do everything I can to help her.”
District Judge Maurice Cooper previously said: ‘‘There is no evidence that Balbir Sandhu was in charge of either dog at the time.’’
DOG MUST NOW BE KEPT MUZZLED IN PUBLIC
JASWINDER Kaur was sentenced at Chesterfield Magistrates’ Court on February 10. She admitted being in charge of a greyhound-cross, called Joqi, that was dangerously out of control in a public place and, whilst out of control, injured Isobel Barker. And she admitted being in charge of the other dog, called Rambo, also out of control in a public place.
Kaur was told to pay £670 in fines and £1,428.63 compensation. The greyhound was made the subject of an order meaning it could be put down if conditions aren’t met.
The conditions are that it has got to be muzzled and kept on a lead at all times when in public places, and that it must be with and supervised by either Balbir Singh Sandhu, Jaswinder Kaur, Jatinder Singh Sandhu, Dapinder Singh Sandhu and no-one else, in a public place. An order was made that the Alsatian be kept under proper control.
Derby City Council says there is a noise abatement order in place on the Field Rise home “served in respect of a statutory noise nuisance being caused from dogs barking and howling at the property”. It was served in April 2012.
A council spokeswoman added: “We have no evidence of a breach of the notice and there is no record of any complaints alleging noise from the dogs since August 2012.”
(Derby Telegraph - Feb 21, 2014)
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