Saturday, August 6, 2016

United Kingdom: Staffordshire pit bull terrier dog attack 'could have killed a child'

UNITED KINGDOM -- A Staffordshire pit bull terrier which attacked another dog and its owner "could have killed a child".

The dog, which was described as "shy" and with "no aggression towards humans" must now be castrated and muzzled when in public, magistrates have ruled.

But the victim said she is disgusted by the sentence and wanted it destroyed.

She described the dog as "thrashing around like a shark" as it dragged her across a field.

Christine Brown, of Clee Road, Cleethorpes owns a Husky and a Cockerpoo (Cocker Spaniel / Poodle) and said the court should have ordered the dog to be destroyed.


After the hearing she recalled how she was walking on the field at the rear of Lindsey Lower School, off Clee Road and saw the terrier go straight for her Husky, Suka.

She told how she knelt down to protect the Husky and the Staffordshire - called Rocky - snapped at her face. The sewing machinist pushed Rocky off and it bit her on the arm.

She said: "Luckily I had my arm turned inwards to protect myself, otherwise I fear it could have bitten through to my tendon. I was trying to push it off. It was thrashing around like a shark.

"It came off again and bit into my leg. Its jaw locked on to my leg and dragged me across the embankment."

She said its owners arrived moment later.

Rocky was out with owner Susan Thornhill, 58, of Freeston Street, Cleethorpes, at 2.30pm on December 6.

At Grimsby Magistrates' Court, Thornhill admitted not having her dog under control when it attacked the woman and the other dog. She was given a 12-month community order and told she had to do 150 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Prosecuting, Jade Ferguson told magistrates the victim had submitted a statement in which she called for Rocky to be destroyed.

Photographs of the injuries were shown to magistrates.

Mrs Brown said she was an active person but had not been able to move for a long time after the attack in December.

The sewing machinist told how she had lost earnings as she had not been able to work.

She said: "I am now wary of dogs. If I had been a child I would have been killed."


The prosecution applied for compensation for the victim and said the cost of Humberside Police looking after the dog since December had been £10 per day.

But magistrates said they took into account Thornhill's financial means and only ordered compensation of £1,000 for Mrs Brown.

So the victim is attacked by this woman's dog and because she's determined not to have any money, the victim barely gets anything in compensation -- even though she has been out of work due to the injury and not earning money herself. Where's the sense in that??

They ordered Rocky to be castrated and undergo training of six classes with an expert within a month of the castration. It must also be muzzled when in public.

The contingent destruction order means if there are any further attacks the dog will be destroyed.

For Thornhill, Richard Hackfath said renowned dog expert Debbie Connolly had said the owner had been "a bit ignorant in certain respects, in terms of its training".

He said: "It was an incident that she could not have foreseen and was a lapse in control and attention."

He told the court that after the incident, Mrs Brown gave Thornhill her house keys so she could take her dogs home while she went to hospital.

He said his client was extremely sorry for what happened and that she and her partner had tried to intervene.

Mr Hackfath said his client had only let Rocky off its lead when she thought there was no one else in the field. But the topography of the field had obscured Mrs Brown and her dogs, who were behind a mound.

He said Rocky had become nervous and aggressive towards other dogs after being bitten by a Jack Russell when out for a walk in Weelsby Woods previously.

An assessment by Debbie Connolly described Rocky as "shy, a little subdued and compliant, with no aggression towards humans".

(Grimsby Telegraph - July 23, 2016)

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