Woman left injured after danger dog mauled pet
ADANGEROUS Staffordshire bull terrier “thrashed” a beagle from side to side as its owner and her son watched in horror.
The 45kg terrier, named Barry, then attacked the woman who was battling to protect her pet and tried to hurt another neighbour who ran to the property after hearing her and the child screaming.
Prosecuting, Lisa Worsley told Preston Crown Court that Barry had got loose from a home in Inglewhite, Skelmersdale, and found his way into the garden of neighbour Leanne Dunkin and then inside her house.
Owner Gary Delves, 34, believed he had locked the back door when he left the property but later conceded he must not have done.
Delves, now of Hallcroft, had been staying with a friend at the house for a few days in 2018 and the dog had already had to be removed from the garden on one occasion.
But it returned on August 9 and quickly set about attacking the beagle.
Ms Worsley said: “Ms Dunkin was working in her home office when she heard a loud noise which sounded like choking.
“She went downstairs and saw the white terrier holding her dog in its mouth and thrashing it from side to side.
“She tried to help her dog but was unable to.”
A neighbour heard the “hysterical screams” and ran around to see what was happening before attempting to stop the attack by hitting the terrier with a broom, which snapped without having any effect.
She then tried to “put the broom into the dog’s anus” as she had heard this would lead to it releasing its jaws but was still unsuccessful.
Eventually, the beagle was let go after the woman resorted to jumping on Barry’s back and she then had to hold the dog’s head still until it eventually calmed down in the garden.
Ms Dunkin had to have an operation on her fifth metacarpal and now has permanent damage to one finger.
Her son suffered recurring nightmares about a dog attack in the wake of the incident and Ms Dunkin felt compelled to sleep downstairs for 12 months in fear of a repeat attack.
Their dog also suffered abdominal pain for about a month and needed vet care costing £100.
Police arrived 20 minutes after the attack and Delves, who has 15 previous convictions for 24 offences, approached officers to say the dog belonged to him.
Defending, Michael Hagerty said: “He was staying for a short time at that address and he believed on that day he had locked the back door but accepts that can’t have been the case.”
Delves pleaded guilty to owning a dog which was dangerously out of control and caused injury.
Mr Hagerty added that Barry was never usually aggressive to humans and had helped his owner cope with personal trauma including the death of his mother.
Sentencing, Judge Simon Newell warned that owning such a “large, powerful dog” came with extra responsibility.
He gave Delves a suspended four-month sentence and a threeyear ban on owning dog. Judge Newell also ordered that the dog be destroyed and said he made that decision “with greatest regret”.