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DANGER DOGS Jail for pair who kept deadly ‘bully’ dog despite warnings
A MAN and woman whose dog mauled a boy of 10 to death have both been jailed.
Jack Lis was attacked by the eightstone American bully called Beast while playing at a friend’s house.
Brandon Hayden, 19, had seen the animal being given away on Facebook with a warning it was “not good with other dogs”.
Within days of him adopting it, CCTV later released by police showed it lunging at terrified children and adults outside local shops.
In a witness statement, Jack’s mother said that when she closed her eyes she could see the killer dog and its teeth.
His father wrote that he was haunted day and night by the thought of his son alone, in pain and frightened to death.
Prosecutor Gareth James said Jack’s friend watched in horror as the dog pushed him to the floor with its paws on his shoulders.
Neighbour Kirk Wiegold was alerted to the attack in Caerphilly, South Wales, but could only open the door a fraction.
Paramedics raced to the property but were unable to save Jack, described by his family as the sweetest boy.
The dog, which was not on the banned list, was destroyed. Hayden, of Penyrheol, Caerphilly, was jailed for four-anda-half years. He admitted owning the dog that killed Jack in November last year and five offences of owning a dog dangerously out of control.
Amy Salter, 29, of nearby Trethomas, admitted being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control and was sentenced to three years. Both were banned for life from keeping dogs.
Judge Michael Fitton QC called the death “utterly tragic and needless”.
Jack’s mum Emma Whitfield told Cardiff crown court: “I close my eyes and I see the animal and its teeth. I hear the barking. I used to be happy, bubbly, fun but now I am a nervous wreck.
“I’m angry because my child went out to play and didn’t come home.” In a victim impact statement, Jack’s dad John wrote: “How can I find words to describe the impact that
Jack’s tragic unnecessary death has had on my family? There aren’t any.
“Losing a child is heartbreaking to say the least but to lose a child in such an horrific, unimaginable way is not something that any one would ever be able to come to terms with or accept. “The circumstances and the thought of how he must have been feeling at that time, all alone, in pain and frightened to death haunts me. I cannot close my eyes at night and think of anything else.
“Jack was 10 and had his whole life ahead of him but this was taken from him. “I’ll never get to see him turn into a young man, learn to drive, get married or have children of his own. “His brothers and sisters are too young to remember him.
“All I can pray for is that we get some justice and that lessons will be learnt preventing any other child and family suffering as we are.”
The Daily Mirror has been campaigning to crack down on dangerous dogs and has proposed changes to tighten the law.
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