The Dog Presumably Did It For Free...

Josh Scouller, prosecuting, said Sheila Smith had stopped to speak to some people close to her Chippenham home in September last year when she was attacked. After seeing the brown dog she said something like 'hello there', he said, and leaned slightly forward, though did not bend over, and held out her right hand.

"All of a sudden the dog jumped up and bit her twice to the area of the mouth," he said. A lad called Kyle, who was about 19 or 20, shouted at the animal and took him inside and a few moments later Davidson got back.

And that's when the fun started!

She said the dog was not allowed out the front of the house until he was castrated adding "I have told them time and again: why do think my back garden is fenced off?", he said. Although she later denied saying that, giving evidence she accepted she had but that she meant she was worried the dog would run off, something it had never done.

Davidson then took Mrs Smith to the RUH in Bath where she had numerous stitches and injections to her badly cut lips. As a result of the bite the victim said she was in a great deal of pain and could not eat properly for a long time after.

She said she was particularly upset as Davidson's daughter Hayleigh, who was also there, told her 'You are only bleeding so much because you are old'.

What a lovely family!

Pamela Rose, defending, said the dog had now been castrated and had never attacked before or since. Debbie Connolly, an animal behaviourist who was a trainer BBC3 show Dog Borstal, said she had assessed the dog and said it showed no aggression. While she could not say any dog would never bite again, and it was a bit boisterous, a muzzle and lead would counter any risk he presented.

And the risk of chavs running free? What counters that?

Judge Robert Pawson, sitting with two magistrates, said "We have got real concerns about this dog but we are just persuaded, just persuaded, that the dog should not be destroyed immediately.

"There should be a contingency destruction order on the following basis: firstly Hugo is to be muzzled and on a lead at all times when he is outside the address to which the appellant lives, other than in the back garden.

Second he is not to be, when in public he should be under the supervision of someone aged 16 years or over."

They also reduced the suspended sentence from four months to two, retained the 160 hours of unpaid work and upped the compensation from £1,500 to £2,000.

Perhaps Pamela & Robert should have been made to house this 'safe' animal for a couple of weeks each?