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Jail
threat to owner of ‘attack dogs’
THE
OWNER of two dogs that savaged and nearly killed a Wolverhampton
schoolgirl has been warned she could be sent to prison after
admitting allowing the attack to happen.
District Judge Phillip Browning, sitting at the city's magistrates’
court last week adjourned sentencing until April 11 and told
Jean Bernadette Harvey: "I am leaving my options open.
The consequences of this offence are so serious that the court
will have to consider custody."
The 23-year-old, who originally denied allowing her Bullmastiff/
Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross breeds Kaiser and Gina to cause
injury to her neighbour's daughter Leah Preston, had changed
her pleas to guilty.
Prosecutor Warren Stannier told the court the animals escaped
from Harvey's back garden, ran through her house and attacked
Leah, who was five at the time, while she played in her front
garden in Hawksford Crescent, Low Hill, on May 16 last year.
"They started biting at her legs. Her mother, (Debbie Reynolds)
came out and screamed, but was unable to assist. She was in
shock," said Mr Stannier.
Harvey joined in trying to pull the dogs off, both she and Miss
Reynolds sustaining several injuries themselves in the process.
The dogs also turned on their Harvey's own children, Liam and
Lauren Skeldon, aged five and three respectively, before being
penned.
Leah was taken to Birmingham Children's hospital where she underwent
emergency surgery for wounds to her legs, arms, buttocks and
scalp. According to doctors, the child had lost much of the
flesh on her left leg and her buttocks. As she was being sedated,
Leah pleaded with her mother not to let doctors "put her
down".
Miss Reynolds kept a vigil at Leah's bedside. She told of her
horror at the attack: "I had been washing up and I heard
a scream. I ran into the garden. All I could see was my poor
baby being bitten by these dogs. She was screaming for help
and whimpering."
Police officers arrived at the scene and the dogs were taken
away and destroyed shortly after the attack, added the prosecutor.
Harvey had had the dogs, aged about five-months-old, for about
three months, at the time of the incident.
Mr John Rowe, defending, said Harvey did all she could to stop
the attack while others in the street watched, stunned.
"She threw herself in between the dog and this little girl.
She did her best to protect this child at the cost of her own
injuries."
He described the attack as a "tragic accident" which
followed the unfortunate coincidence of Harvey and her five-year-old
son opening the rear and front doors of their house at the same
time.
The judge granted Harvey bail and ordered her to return to court
next month for sentencing.
The incident was one of a spate of dog attacks last spring which
led to renewed media calls for ‘Bullmastiffs’ to be
added to the list of breeds covered by the 1991 Dangerous Dogs
Act, although in most cases, newspapers took on board and reported
the comments made by breed experts who pointed out that Bill
terriers were not inherently dangerous, and also that Breed
Specific Legislation (BSL) did not work.
Dave Levy, Staffordshire Bull Terrier Liaison Officer for the
Kennel Club commented at the time: "Once again, criminal
behaviour by dog owners has resulted in severe injuries to children.
Why is it that the law-makers will still not understand that
we all need protecting from irresponsible owners who intentionally
breed and train dogs for aggression and/or allow them to roam
the streets out of any proper control?
"It must surely be time for the Government to talk properly
with veterinary
bodies, animal behaviourists and dog owners to really understand
the problems of bad ownership and begin to draft legislation
to control the real threat to children - posed by the way some
dogs are kept and stop relying on merely categorising breeds.
"This may absolve their conscious but clearly does not
protect children. Repeated scientific research has shown that
breed is NOT the significant factor and pandering to media pressure
is no way to protect the public.
"The Staffordshire Bull Terrier remains one of the breeds
known to be excellent with children and today, an estimated
250,000 Staffordshire Bull Terriers in the UK were not involved
in attacks on children.
"The attack in Wolverhampton is reported to have been carried
out by two "Bullmastiff/Staffordshire Bull Terrier crosses".
This is quite probably a euphemism for dogs that were named
and banned in 1991 since the owners can hardly admit to having
intentionally disobeyed that law. Hence it is "easier"
to blame two well-known and popular breeds, the Bullmastiff
and Staffordshire Bull terrier, both of which have been bred
and developed over many years to create pet dogs able to live
happily alongside their human owners.
"Dog owners don't want to see children injured any more
than other members of the public and Government must finally
be forced to open a proper informed debate about how to protect
them."
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