Death row dog
Bullmastiff sentenced to be put down for attack wins stay of execution as case goes to High Court
‘Afford Eva a second chance’
SHE was left languishing on doggy death row after biting a puppy and the pet’s owner.
But Eva the bullmastiff has now been given a stay of execution – thanks to the public body probing the case of the Lockerbie bomber.
The pet was sentenced to death last year after she attacked a six-month-old labrador and the pup’s owner.
However, she has been handed the chance of a lifeline after the ruling was examined by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC).
The public body – which is reviewing the conviction of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi – referred the case back to the High Court to consider whether there is an alternative to putting Eva to sleep.
An appeal has also now been launched to try to save the pet’s life. Her owner, Moira Hunter, from Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, pleaded guilty last year to being in charge of the dog while it was out of control in December 2016.
Six-year-old Eva attacked a labrador puppy, repeatedly biting it and causing injury, Kilmarnock Sheriff Court heard.
The bullmastiff then attacked the pup’s owner – who was taking her three-yearold son to nursery – and bit the woman’s hip and her hand, puncturing and fracturing her fingers.
At the hearing in November last year, Sheriff Elizabeth McFarlane ordered Eva to be destroyed and banned Hunter, 57, from keeping animals for five years.
But the appeal to stop the destruction of the dog argues that an alternative order could be imposed to ‘afford her a second chance’.
Jacob Cohen, paralegal with the Faculty Appeals Service, part of the Faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh, said: ‘The appeal only concerns whether or not it was appropriate to order that Eva be destroyed.
‘The referral back to court focuses on whether the sheriff has erred by failing to consider if, instead of ordering Eva’s destruction, a contingent destruction was appropriate.
‘[This] imposes certain measures on an owner in respect of controlling the dog in future.’
Mr Cohen said the contingent is an ‘important middle ground’ in legislation.
He explained it ‘rightly provides for a sheriff to take a step back from immediate destruction of a dog... to afford [the pet] a second chance, either by way of retraining, new ownership or preventative measures such as muzzling or being kept on a lead at all times’.
Mr Cohen added: ‘This appeal has the potential to set a clear precedent for how such cases are dealt with in the future.’
A procedural hearing is due to take place next month, with a full appeal due to go before the court in March or April.
Eva is now living at kennels and Hunter visits the dog. In a social media post earlier this year, Hunter wrote: ‘She is looking terrific... She should be with a loving family and not stuck in kennels all alone.’
The initial court hearing heard how the pup’s owner had the labrador on a lead when Eva – who was not on a lead – ran from her garden across the road.
Hunter had shouted: ‘Don’t worry, she’s friendly.’
Hunter did not wish to comment.