Businessman is fined £600 after his dog killed a fawn
A BUSINESSMAN was fined after his dog attacked a baby deer and caused its death – as frantic members of the public tried to stop the killing.
Franck Hiribarne, a marketing boss who earns £200,000 a year, told magistrates he was training his puppy in October when it caught sight of the fawn and started chasing it.
As it fled from the Irish setter named Alfie, the frightened deer ended up being hit by a car after it ran into a road.
Video footage captured by a cyclist shows the moment bystanders tried to chase the pet away from the injured deer as it continued to circle the stricken animal.
The “relentless” dog attacked and bit the fawn from behind and dragged her backwards, it was said.
Alfie was seen biting the deer and aggressively barking before witnesses formed a human barrier between the two animals to halt the attack.
Bystanders took down Hiribarne’s details as he arrived.They also flagged down a passing police car and contacted staff at Richmond Park, in south-west London.
The deer limped off and was later found collapsed with a broken leg, injured tail and hind wounds.
Sadly, she had to be put down by a gamekeeper.
Owner Hiribarne, 44, had allowed his puppy to run loose despite signs telling visitors to keep their dogs on leads, the magistrates heard.
Hiribarne, a vice president at the Forma Brands beauty firm, said he lost sight of Alfie as it raced after the
wild animal. But when he caught up, he found his dog surrounded by a group of men, along with a stopped car and the bleeding doe lying on the ground.
Hiribarne, who lives in a £1million house in Kingston, south London, had entered a plea of guilty to one charge of permitting a dog of which he was in charge to chase, worry or injure an animal.
He said: “I was genuinely shocked and sorry for what had happened and since then I have refrained completely from letting Alfie off the leash in any park.
“I’ve also taken a special dog trainer specialised in gun dogs to control more accurately any hunting instincts. He’s made great progress.”
At Wimbledon magistrates court he was ordered to pay a total of £602, including a £133 fine and £350 compensation to The Royal Parks.