Dog spared after court is told of impact on owner

ADOG which is “stuck in the middle” of a bitter neighbour dispute has avoided being put down because of the impact it would have on her owner.

Della the Brindle terrier was facing a destruction order after biting a woman on a country lane.

The victim, Angela Evans, and Della’s owner Teresa Carlisle are locked in a long-running dispute about access and rights of way over land where they live in Pembrokeshire.

Swansea Crown Court heard it was the third time 66-year-old Carlisle had appeared before the courts for allowing her dog to be dangerously out of control. A previous hearing resulted in a destruction order being issued for Della which was subsequently made contingent, effectively a suspended death sentence, after an appeal.

On that occasion Carlisle was told she would not get another chance to save her dog – but now a judge has given her another last chance.

The court heard that in October last year Carlisle was driving down a lane to see an elderly neighbour, with Della running along beside the car. However, unbeknown to Carlisle, Miss Evans was also on the same quiet track. When Bella saw Miss Evans, she bit her.

Carlisle, of Tresissut, St Nicholas, Goodwick, had previously pleaded guilty to being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control that caused injury when she appeared in court for sentencing.

The court heard the defendant lives in a house on her brother-inlaw’s farm, and that there is a path across the farmyard to properties owned by Mrs Evans, and to the nearby coastal footpath. There is a long-running dispute between the pair over the right of way.

Della’s offending began in 2013 when she bit Christopher Thomas, Miss Evans’ partner, on the leg as the couple walked along the path.

Carlisle was fined, and ordered to keep Della under control and muzzled in public for 12 months.

She was told she had narrowly avoided a destruction order being imposed. The following year Della “barked and snarled” at a couple staying in a holiday cottage owned by Miss Evans as the pair walked along the path on their way back from the beach.

After that incident a destruction order was issued by magistrates, which was later made contingent on appeal to Swansea Crown Court – Carlisle was warned by Judge Patrick Curran that this was a “very last chance” and he ordered the dog be kept on a lead when it was in the farmyard.

The October 2016 bite does not break that order, because Della was not in the farmyard.

Janet Gedrych, for Carlisle, said Della was “stuck in the middle” of the dispute between the parties.

The barrister said no-one had ever seen Della acting aggressively towards the public, only to Miss Evans and her partner and their visitors, and people who were “antagonistic” towards the animal.

The barrister said Carlisle had taken every step to avoid conflict, including transferring land to Miss Evans so she could construct a new access track to her properties.

She added that Carlisle was more concerned about the dog than herself, and the loss of her “companion dog” would be “overwhelming” for her client.

The dog has been in police kennels since the October 2016 attack.

Judge Geraint Walters sentenced Carlisle to four months in prison suspended for two years, and ordered her to pay £500 towards prosecution costs.

Judge Walters told the defendant he was not going to issue a destruction order for Della, saying she had avoided it “by the skin of your teeth”.