AUSTRALIA -- A woman wept as she described being subjected to a sustained and vicious attack by her next door neighbour's dog.
Margaret McLeod said she was left in a pool of blood when the terrier cross-breed leapt over a 7ft fence and attacked her in her own garden.
She told Perth Sheriff Court she was "petrified, terrified and shocked" as the powerful dog spent more than two minutes with its teeth locked onto her flesh.
Pauline Reid was found guilty of being the owner of the out of control dog which attacked Mrs McLeod.
The animal, a Staffordshire/Labrador cross called Ollie, now faces being destroyed.
Sentence on Reid, a health studies student of Newbigging Farm Cottages, Balmanno in Perthshire, was deferred for reports.
Ms McLeod told the court she was covered in blood and was so shaken by the incident that doctors were initially unable to treat her at Perth Royal Infirmary.
She said: "I was reaching up to unlock the snib when I saw out of the corner of my eye the dog just flew over the top of the fence straight at me.
"My heart's beating just thinking about it. I was shocked, I was terrified. The fact the dog hadn't warned me it was there was what scared and terrified me.
"I never came out when the dog was in the back garden because it terrified me. I turned from the gate to face the dog and it caught my hip in his jaw.
"He managed to get a bit of flesh. He latched onto it. All the while I was screaming, shouting and crying. Before I knew what happened he had latched onto my arm."
She added: "I was petrified, terrified. I realised that if he got me down to the ground I would be very vulnerable.
"It doesn't bear thinking about what could have happened. If it had been a child they wouldn't have stood a chance because he was so strong.
"It took me all my strength to keep from hitting the ground. It seemed like a long time because there was nobody there to pull him off, a couple of minutes at least. He was vicious. I was paralysed because he had me in his grip."
Ms McLeod told the court that the dog was the size of a Labrador and was crossed with a pit bull terrier.
She said she had previously expressed her fears to the dog's owner.
Reid had denied the charge and said her neighbour had exaggerated the length and severity of the dog attack. However, she accepted that Ollie had drawn blood and Ms McLeod needed hospital treatment.
The offence took place on June 16 last year and sheriff Fiona Tait said: "I prefer the evidence of Ms McLeod. The extent of her distress and the severity of the injury means her timescale is more likely.
"She had been fearful of the dog on previous occasions. While in your care the dog escaped and carried out an attack of some length."
(stv.tv - Feb 10, 2015)
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