Help With Dog Incident

[sdenny]

Hi All,

I hope you can help as I am now very worried.

About 2 months ago while walking our dog on a lead.

An off lead dog jumped at my daughters face and kept jumping at her. The other ladies daughter about 10 years old tried to pull the dog off. My daughter screamed and our dog jumped at the other dog and knocked the little girl over.

The other woman said she would not take any further action if we did not.

Today we had the Police round regarding the dog bite incident. They are claiming our dog bit her daughter. Which is not true.

However the police office says he saw the injuries of a dog bite and is not interested in what we say.


Will our dog be seized and is there anything we can do?

[des8]

Re: Help With Dog Incident

hi and welcome

What type of dog do you have?

If the incident took place two months ago, did the police say why they have only just visited you.

How soon after the alleged attack did the officer view the wounds and what was their condition?
A minor wound would take about a week to heal
Anything more major should have received medical treatment.
Is there any record of such treatment?

The injuries may have been caused by a dog, but what proof do they have that it was your dog?
It is your word against theirs, and the apparent delay in reporting the incident is to your advantage, although they do have six months in which to report an incident

Was there any mention of a possible prosecution underSection 3 of Dangerous Dogs Act 1991?

In any event it might be advisable to obtain an assessment of the dog from a behaviourist

[sdenny]

Re: Help With Dog Incident

They did not mention any prosecution. However they have asked for attendance at the Police station on later this week.

We have a Mastiff.

The officer was not interested in our side of the story as he said he saw the bite.

Can they just seize the dog?

[des8]

Re: Help With Dog Incident

Here's a link to a recent similar(?) situation one of our members found themselves in: http://legalbeagles.info/forums/show...ion&highlight=

- - - Updated - - -

Mastiffs aren't on the dangerous dog list so likelihood of seizure is remote.
If perchance that should happpen DO NOT SIGN THE DOG OVER.

[Openlaw15]

Re: Help With Dog Incident

Hi All,

I hope you can help as I am now very worried.

About 2 months ago while walking our dog on a lead.

An off lead dog jumped at my daughters face and kept jumping at her. The other ladies daughter about 10 years old tried to pull the dog off. My daughter screamed and our dog jumped at the other dog and knocked the little girl over.

The other woman said she would not take any further action if we did not.

Today we had the Police round regarding the dog bite incident. They are claiming our dog bit her daughter. Which is not true.

However the police office says he saw the injuries of a dog bite and is not interested in what we say.


Will our dog be seized and is there anything we can do?

Also report your neighbour to the police for their dog being out of control. Their dog was threatening your daughter so your dog jumped on the dog but the neighbour's daughter got in the way. Why do the police think your dog bit your neighbour's daughter? What evidence do they have. How serious were the injuries? If this is first time incident, under the sentencing council guidelines, it's likely you'll be given a warning, and very unlikely for your dog to be seized.

[sdenny]

Re: Help With Dog Incident

Hi Des8 I do not have permission to access the thread you posted.

Any ideas?

[Openlaw15]

Re: Help With Dog Incident

Hi All,

I hope you can help as I am now very worried.

About 2 months ago while walking our dog on a lead.

An off lead dog jumped at my daughters face and kept jumping at her. The other ladies daughter about 10 years old tried to pull the dog off. My daughter screamed and our dog jumped at the other dog and knocked the little girl over.

The other woman said she would not take any further action if we did not.

Today we had the Police round regarding the dog bite incident. They are claiming our dog bit her daughter. Which is not true.

However the police office says he saw the injuries of a dog bite and is not interested in what we say.


Will our dog be seized and is there anything we can do?

Here's what I stated on the thread for a person in a similar situation to yours.

"Update: I was right here and what I said above. Here's a scenario for a dangerous dog out of control from the Sentencing Council's guidelines. It's not nice reading but it's only meant to serve as a fake case scenario:

"Owner or person in charge of a dog dangerously out of control in a public place, injuring any person (Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (section 3(1))

Bruce, 34, is in his local park with his Staffordshire Bull Terrier (not a prohibited type). The dog is not on a lead and Bruce is throwing a stick for it to fetch. The park is quite busy with other members of the public and as one family with a small child passes nearby, the dog bounds towards the family. He grabs hold of the child’s leg in his mouth puncturing the flesh with his teeth. Despite the parents’ attempts to get the dog away from their child, the dog does not relinquish his grip on the child’s leg until Bruce, having run to the scene, pulls him away. The 4 year old boy requires hospital treatment for three separate wounds in his leg which are almost certain to result in permanent scarring.

Bruce has no previous convictions relating to dangerous dog offences but has two previous convictions for public order offences in the last 2 years both resulting in fines. The court hears that there have been no previous complaints against the dog and that Bruce had cared for the dog well for six years. Bruce pleads guilty at the first court appearance."

Here's my own reasoning. Bruce had admitted guilt to a dog dangerously out of control; a Staffordshire Bull Terrier bit into a child's leg whilst the dog was off his lead in the park, where families including children were present. 1) Said dog in this scenario are likely more dangerous than dogs who just nip their neighbour; 2) severe leg bite and dog wouldn't let go despite child's parents best attempts to release; therefore it is dangerously out of control; 3) said dog would only let go when the dog's owner comes. 4) dangerous dog was let of the lead purposely to play in the park even though it was obviously dangerous. The result is that a child suffered a serious personal injury.

Result: personal injury claim for the child; Criminal offence against Bruce, ie Community Order only, no prison time; No destruction order against the dog. Bruce never had any previous conviction for dangerous dog offence but had 2 public order offences, but was still deemed a responsible dog owner. Bruce had no previous complaints against the dog, in his favour.

http://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/...rios_-_web.pdf

You will not lose your dog not on your facts anyway. The law requires thresholds and they probably consider hypothetical scenarios similar to the ones I mentioned. In terms of humans, the criminal courts/ judges use hypothetical standards, ie subjective: what the court thinks was in the mind of the person, and the objective standard: what the courts think is in the mind of the reasonable person in their circumstances. "

[sdenny]

Re: Help With Dog Incident

The other party were not neighbours. They were other walking there dog.

This is a first time incident. This has never happened before. Our dog use to sit outside the school gates with me when I picked up one of my children. Kids would pet him.

The evidence they are saying is that the officer saw the bites!

Our dog has been to puppy training classes and passed and also goes to a dog club training session most weeks and is very well behaved. He was clearly protecting our daughter who was extremely scared by the other dog.

[Openlaw15]

Re: Help With Dog Incident

The other party were not neighbours. They were other walking there dog.

This is a first time incident. This has never happened before. Our dog use to sit outside the school gates with me when I picked up one of my children. Kids would pet him.

The evidence they are saying is that the officer saw the bites!

Our dog has been to puppy training classes and passed and also goes to a dog club training session most weeks and is very well behaved. He was clearly protecting our daughter who was extremely scared by the other dog.

is the police officer a vet if not how would he know what a dog bite looks like. It's called circumstantial evidence, ie no proof unless tests are carried out on the dog and the little girl. Use this pdf, print it off and give to the police. It's letting them know you know your rights.

[des8]

Re: Help With Dog Incident

Hi Des8 I do not have permission to access the thread you posted.

Any ideas?

Sorry about that
Basically poster's little terrier broke free and nipped a neighbour ,who reported incident.
Poster invited to an interview under caution.
Result: "Well all done now and the result was community resolution . so a letter of apology asnd keeping madam under control"

[Foxyflugel]

Re: Help With Dog Incident

The other owner is at fault as you had your dog on a lead and under control in a public place - they did not - which is an offence - it may be worth pointing this out to the police!! If you had called this incident in, you would have been the one in the right and obtained an incident number. They have no proof that it was your dog that bit the child - as others have said - ask them when they viewed the bite and if she sought medical attention. It may be that another dog/their dog?? has bitten the child and they are trying to frame your dog.

As Des8 says - they cannot seize your dog and most definitely DO NOT SIGN IT OVER.

Good luck.