Police enquiries continue after Poodle is mauled by Bull Terriers

Police were called at 19.09 on 16^th January 2007 to Acton Lane following reports of a female and her dog being attacked by two dogs.  However, officers on route to deal with the incident were redirected to the scene of a road traffic accident on the A40 in which a 4 year old child suffered life threatening injuries.

The victim of the dog attack, who sustained bites to her hand and whose dog sustained numerous bite wounds to its neck, ears and shoulder, was unable to remain at the scene and returned home where she contacted the police.  Officers visited the victim’s home to establish the facts of the incident.

The victim, a 50 year old local woman, told the police how she was walking her dog, a poodle, in Acton Lane (close to the petrol garage) when two Staffordshire bull terriers ran from across the road and attacked the dog. The victim pulled the dogs off her dog and in doing so was allegedly bitten on the hand causing a minor injury.  Local residents and a passer-by, who witnessed the incident, came to aid of the victim and managed to separate the dogs.

An eye witness told ChiswickW4.com “The screams and commotion attracted quite a few people who all tried to help break up the attacking dogs.  Some were cut and injured during this and the poodle was very badly mauled.  The elderly dog was taken to a vet requiring many stitches.”  He went on to say that “The lady owner of the two dogs told people not to touch her dogs and then tried to walk away into the night.”

The dogs were allegedly in the company of Arabic female, aged 50-60yrs, who was wearing a dark jacket and a white woolly hat.  She left the scene shortly after the incident. 

The victim made some enquiries about the owners of the dogs involved and was informed by local residents that the alleged owner of the dogs resided in Gladstone Road, W4.

No arrests have been made and enquires continue.

Dangerous Dog Act 1991

An Act to prohibit persons from having in their possession or custody dogs belonging to types bred for fighting; to impose restrictions in respect of such dogs pending the coming into force of the prohibition; to enable restrictions to be imposed in relation to other types of dog which present a serious danger to the public; to make further provision for securing that dogs are kept under proper control; and for connected purposes. 

Owners of the breeds specially controlled by the above Act must carry a certificate of exemption allowing them to keep their dogs. The breeds named are:-

§         Pit Bull Terrier and Pit Bull Terrier types

§         Japanese Tosa

§         Dogo Angentino

§         Fila Braziliero

All owners of the above breeds must have registered at their local police station and the following procedures should have been carried out:- The dog must be

§         Microchipped

§         Tattooed on the inner thigh

§         Covered by third party insurance

§         Neutered

In addition to this, all the dogs must be muzzled and on a lead when in a public place and kept in the charge of a person over the age of 16.

Any person not carrying a Certificate of Exemption is liable to have their dog seized. A court case may then follow to establish whether the person is in possession of an unregistered dog. If this is found to be the case, the court could likely order the dog to be destroyed and sentence the owner to six months in prison and/or a fine not exceeding, £2,000. The dog may not be destroyed on the understanding that, within a timescale imposed by the court, the dog is: neutered; tattooed; microchipped; insured and registered (the national dangerous dogs index will only be re-opened as a result of such a court order to allow for registration).

Other breeds also behaving dangerously

The Act applies to other breeds also. It is an offence to allow any dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place, or a private place where it is not permitted to be, even if it does not cause an injury. The penalty if a dog does not cause injury is up to six months in prison and/or a fine not exceeding, £2,000. If a dog does cause injury and the case is proven in court, the dog could be destroyed (or within a timescale imposed by the courts the dogs is neutered; tattooed; microchipped; insured and registered) with maximum penalties for the owner of two years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.

January 23, 2007