Thursday, September 8, 2016

United Kingdom: Vickilee Galloway behind bars after ordering her pit bull to attack

UNITED KINGDOM -- A DOG owner was behind bars today after ordering her Staffordshire Pit Bull Terrier to attack another woman leaving her seriously injured.

Vickilee Galloway, 37, set her dog on Stacey Findlay after the two women started arguing over a name while socializing in her neighbor's flat on February 17 last year.

Part of Ms Findlay's ear was torn off and the cartilage was damaged after she was mauled by the pit bull at the property in Leask Avenue in Peterhead .


The out-of-control dog then launched an attack on Brian Pennie, who lived in the flat, after Ms Findlay managed to escape from the building.

Both victims had parts of their ears missing and needed hospital treatment.

Galloway admitted a charge of assault by inciting her pet to attack another woman when she appeared at the High Court yesterday.

She also plead guilty to being the owner of a dog that was so dangerously out of control that it attacked Mr Pennie, 68, who has since died of an unrelated condition.

Advocate depute Gillian Ross told the court that the incident happened after Galloway fell out with Miss Findlay while drinking in Mr Pennie's flat.

She said: "The accused started telling the complainer that her name was not in fact Stacey."

Ms Ross said Galloway then told her pit bull Jake to attack the other woman.

She told the court: "She used the words 'get her', 'Jake attack', or something similar. She was bitten on the arm which caused her to fall to the ground. The dog then started biting and attacking her left ear."

Galloway eventually managed to get the dog under control by grabbing his collar after it injured Mr Pennie and an ambulance was called out to the property.


Mr Pennie also lost part of his left ear and was taken to hospital with a 10 centimetre wound on the left side of his neck which left his muscle exposed.

Defence lawyer Emma Toner said he had bought the dog for his neighbour on February 17 and they had shared the responsibilities.

She said: "She noticed that the dog seemed to have some injuries. She took the trouble to contact the police concerned about the injuries.

"She was concerned the dog had been injured in the past. She had taken it to a vet and the dog was not at that stage chipped. However, the vet estimated that the dog at that time was around two-and-a-half years old."

The pit bull was taken away by the dog warden after the attack and has since been cared for at boarding kennels in the Banff area.

Ms Toner said her client, who turned up late for her court appearance, had lived through an eventful 24 hours because she had returned to her council flat in Peterhead yesterday to find she had been evicted.

All her belongings were locked inside the property and she was appearing at court in the same clothes she had worn the previous day.


She was then forced to travel more than 30 miles to court in a taxi which she could barely afford because her friend let her down with giving her a lift into Aberdeen .

Galloway curled up and sobbed in the dock as Lord Kinclaven remanded her in custody.

Sentence was deferred until October 5 at the High Court in Edinburgh for background reports.

(Daily Record UK - Sept 7, 2016)