Woman to face trial next month on Alsatian danger dog charge

A woman will face trial next month over a charge of allowing a German shepherd dog to savage a young boy in an Angus street.

Marion Dow appeared at Forfar Sheriff Court yesterday in relation to an alleged incident near her Brechin home in July last year which led to a nine-year-old being injured.

Dow, 55, of Provost Buchan Road, Brechin, pled not guilty to a single charge brought under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

Prosecutors allege that on July 17 on Provost Buchan Road she was the owner of a German shepherd named Gilbert which was dangerously out of control and ran around in a public street, repeatedly barked and behaved in an aggressive manner.

The charge alleges that the dog ran towards the boy, knocked him to the ground and repeatedly scratched and bit him on the body, injuring him, and that the animal failed to obey her commands.

Solicitor Michael Boyd confirmed the accused was adhering to her not guilty plea.

Sheriff Gregor Murray set a trial date for March 12.

Courts have the power to order the destruction of a dog in cases involving a conviction that the animal was dangerously out of control. They are also able to impose other control measures including a requirement that a pet is kept on a lead.

Michael Webster, 47, of Leonard Street, Arbroath was fined £200 after he admitted assaulting a man in Townhead Road, Arbroath, on January 25 by repeatedly punching him on the head. Webster was also ordered to pay a £10 victim surcharge under new rules in Scotland’s courts.