Dog ban for owner whose pet tried to bite warden and SSPCA officer

A pet owner has been banned from keeping dogs for two years after his American pit bull-type terrier tried to bite a dog warden and a Scottish SPCA inspector.

Mark Mclay appeared at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court and admitted he twice allowed his dog, Rollo, to be dangerously out of control.

The dog was muzzled when it attempted to attack an SSPCA inspector at Whitehill Kennels in Cowdenbeath in June last year. And it also went for a dog warden that visited Mclay’s home in Burntisland 10 days earlier.

The court ordered the destruction of Rollo in January after Mclay, 35, admitted three breaches of the Dangerous Dogs Act, including possession of the animal.

Procurator fiscal depute Zahra Bhatti said during an examination by an SSPCA inspector on June

17 2021: “The dog suddenly lunged forward, making an attempt to bite the (inspector’s) throat area.

“The muzzle struck his neck and jaw with considerable force.”

The fiscal depute said: “He (the inspector) said that it would have been extremely serious if the dog had not been muzzled or handled in the correct manner.”

The court heard that a dog warden had visited Mclay’s home in Cotburn Crescent earlier that month, when the dog suddenly “lunged forward and leapt up” and tried to bite the warden.

The court was told that Rollo has now been put to sleep.

The Dangerous Dogs Act bans the ownership of the American pit bull.

In sentencing Mclay, Sheriff Maryam Lebaki said: “I’ve heard detailed submissions on the history of this case and have a social work report, and I’m of the view that as a direct alternative to custody a restriction of liberty order is appropriate.”

Sheriff Lebaki ordered Mclay to stick to a curfew of staying at home between 8pm and 8am for six months and ordered him to be banned from having or keeping a dog for two years.

The sheriff told Mclay this should give him enough time to “organise his life” and be in a position to care for a dog in future.

Mark Mclay.