SHOT DOGS: NOW FAMILY PLAN TO SUE POLICE
A DOG breeder has denied allowing his five bulldogs to go on the rampage and bite two shoppers before two of them were shot dead by police in the street, front of up to 50 children.
Daniel Hennessy, 38, who has been charged with two counts of allowing dogs to be dangerously out of control, one count of affray and possession of cannabis, appeared at Bolton Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
Now his family are to take action against the police for shooting the dogs.
Hennessy was arrested after five of his dogs allegedly ran amok in the town centre on Sunday, attacking two people outside a cafe near where up to 50 children had earlier taken part in a junior park run.
Missing
Two of the pets were shot dead by armed police, two were captured and one fled and is still missing.
His girlfriend Donna, who watched from the court’s public gallery alongside two friends and his mother Jean, is set to sue the police over their decision to shoot dead the pets, called ‘Kayos’ and ‘Taser’.
Prosecutor Nicola Yeadon told magistrates that police were told on Sunday afternoon that five pitbull-type dogs were allegedly out of control in the Queens Park area of the town.
There was no application for bail and Hennessy was remanded in custody to appear at Bolton Crown Court on May 2.
He shouted to his family as he was taken down.
Owner Daniel Hennessy, from Bolton, is in custody and said to be heartbroken at the deaths of his pets.
His third and fourth dogs, one of whom is called ‘Gaiter’, were captured but the fifth remains missing and police have urged the public to be vigilant.
But his family are furious about the decision to shoot the dogs and his girlfriend Donna said: “I’ll be putting in a complaint”.
Giving an insight into her son’s state of mind his mother Jean, 68, said: “He’s very upset about it all”.
Dog owners can pursue the police for compensation if they believe it was wrong for their pets to be destroyed.
In 2016 a woman won almost £7,000 in damages from Merseyside Police when they killed her dog unfairly.