Dog taught Latin faces being put down after biting officer

A DOG familiar with “300 Latin commands” faces being put down after it bit a policeman’s bottom.

Pc Michael Obern screamed out as the 6st Carpathian shepherd dog chomped straight through his trousers and into his left buttock, a court heard.

The Wiltshire Police officer was helping Gemma Sankey move some items into a Travelodge in Devizes in October 2021 when her dog turned on him.

Warned not to wear reflective clothing as the dog was likely to “react”, Pc Obern donned a black police vest to appease the animal.

However, he told Salisbury magistrates’ court, when he approached Shroom, it almost immediately attacked him: “I managed to pet her but she then bit my left buttock. It ripped my trousers, ripped my boxer shorts and broke the skin. The dog was on a lead but it was quite a long one.

“I had a bruise for a week, but I had been bitten by a human in another incident a few months before so I’d already had a tetanus injection.”

The hearing was also told Shroom had attacked a woman at a glamping site. Sankey, of Amesbury, denied her dog was out of control on both occasions, claiming the victims’ injuries were “self inflicted”.

In her defence, the 51-year-old said the dog was very intelligent and knew “more than 300 commands in Latin”.

“When Shroom gets terribly excited she jumps up occasionally. His [Pc Obern’s] injuries were not caused by a bite from Shroom – a chihuahua would have made more bite marks,” she said.

She told the hearing she was an expert in animal behaviour and had previously owned four dogs and 15 horses.

However Natalie Cheesman, prosecuting, said there was no evidence Sankey was an expert in canine aggression, and she had no relevant qualifications.

“Ms Sankey is in denial about what Shroom is capable of,” she added.

Sankey was found guilty of two counts of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury. She will be sentenced at a later date. The Crown Prosecution Service is seeking a destruction order for Shroom.

Carpathian shepherd dogs originate from Romania where they were bred for their size and strength to guard livestock from bears and wolves.