A father-of-three who showed an ‘arrogant disregard’ for the safety of his neighbours was yesterday jailed for 10 years after his dangerous dog mauled one of them to death.What did the authorities do? Well, it seems they did....nothing.
Aaron Joseph, 30, ignored a court order to impose controls on his bull terrier type dog Alex, who had mauled four people in a communal garden outside his flat in separate incidents.Nor could it be said they imposed them just a few days before the final attack, either!
Joseph, a courier and semi-professional footballer, had a Dog Control Order imposed on him by magistrates four years earlier which meant Alex should have been neutered, micro-chipped, muzzled in public and insured.Yes, four years. I know public sector workers need to be timed with a sundial rather than a stopwatch in time and motion studies, but even so, that must be some sort of record...
Yet he did nothing and the council dog warden only ordered him to abide by the court order five days before the fatal attack.That man should have been in the dock too. As should the police.
Police were also investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct because officers seized Alex due to concerns she was a banned pit bull terrier only to return her to Joseph seven days before Mr Ellam was killed.That was their primary concern, it seems. Not an assessment of the danger it posed. Just whether it came under the narrow description of a 'pitbull'.
Yet the new legislative powers to deal with dangerous dogs regardless of breed that they and other public sector leeches had whined that they needed to do their jobs properly had already come into effect.
Joseph has nine previous convictions for offences including cannabis possession, supply of heroin and possession of an offensive weapon.The offensive weapon charge presumably not being related to the dog. Yet one glance at it (and at how it was kept, and the type of person who owned it) would have told anyone that that's exactly what it was.
In her evidence the victim’s devastated partner Claire Josling was asked about the actions of the authorities. She said Mr Ellam ‘didn’t feel they had done enough.’They didn't actually do anything, did they? Oh, sure, they imposed conditions, but they then did the square root of f*** all to ensure that they were complied with, so they may as well have done absolutely nothing.
The judge said Joseph would serve half his 10 year term in custody and also banned him from having custody of a dog for life.Which he'll obey. Of course. Just like he did the others.
So, why was the owner the only one in the dock? He shouldn't have been, should he?
Just out of the Penalty area by a dog whisker. What a pity Mr Plod didn't catch him exceeding the speed limit by 1mph.
ReplyDeleteMTG
A policeman eventually used a fire extinguisher to force Alex away
ReplyDeleteat no little risk to himself I should imagine...of course in any other country the copper would have been packing heat on the beat and the pooch would have gotten a hole in it's head to rival the one in its owners'. But heaven forefend in the Pet Loving yUK a peeler would take out a dangerous animal or the dog. Wasn't there an incident recently...I seem to recall the OUTRAGE.
When going to reports of dangerous dogs, we always took the car fire extinguisher with us as we found the foam, and then the halon gas, affected the dog's ability to breathe, stopping its attack. Unfortunately, one dog died from this mid bite on a member of the public and we were told to stop using them following a civil damages claim by the dog's owner. Alternative methods were considered but the most favoured, a 9mm bullet, was never taken up. Progress, eh!
ReplyDeletePenseivat
" a 9mm bullet,"-Penseivat
ReplyDeleteI have heard tell (back when I worked with 'sharp' dogs and former East German Border Guards) of dogs getting shot with a 9mil or even a Kalashnikov round and still ripping the shooter to shreds. Apparently a hunting rifle loaded for boar is appropriate.
"...of course in any other country the copper would have been packing heat on the beat and the pooch would have gotten a hole in it's head ..."
ReplyDeleteOr the cop would have missed and put yet another hole in the victim! As Penseivat points out, the extinguisher is used for good reason.
In fact, should you have ever seen a circus (a real one, before the nutters got them banned) there'd have been a circus hand with a fire extinguisher on duty when the lion tamer was on.
He wasn't there in case something caught fire.
"Wasn't there an incident recently...I seem to recall the OUTRAGE."
That dog was tied securely to a pole. Hardly a danger to the public!
"I have heard tell (back when I worked with 'sharp' dogs and former East German Border Guards) of dogs getting shot with a 9mil or even a Kalashnikov round and still ripping the shooter to shreds."
Small light calibre high speed bullets designed for killing humans will have little stopping power on an adrenaline-fuelled attacker. A shotgun would be more effective.