Saturday, June 06, 2015

Police held dog identity parade so bite victim could point out her four-legged assailant

Police in Aberystwyth, Wales, held a canine identity parade to enable a teenager to pick out a collie which attacked her, a court has heard. Dog owner Edward Andrew Davies was fined £400 and ordered to pay £200 compensation, after he pleaded guilty to being in charge of a dog which caused an injury while dangerously out of control. Davies, 47, appeared before Ceredigion magistrates on Wednesday.

The court heard that the 17-year-old victim was walking past Davies’ property on October 1 last year, when she heard barking, and a black and white border collie and a smaller dog rushed out of a property. The larger dog bit her on the leg, causing her a sharp pain, and she limped home before attending Bronglais Hospital for treatment. She was given a course of antibiotics, and her leg became swollen and bruised. Ellie Morgan, prosecuting, told the court that the dogs had previously been seen coming out of their property to chase vehicles and bite at tyres.



She added that the incident had left the victim fearful of walking her usual route home. Miss Morgan said: “She spoke to the police and was involved with a dog identity parade to identify the dog which caused her injury. She was able to point out the larger of the two dogs.” The court heard that Davies, of Aberystwyth, was fully cooperative with police, and border collie Nell, a rescue dog and her companion, collie-cross Rex, had attended obedience training and had never shown signs of aggression.

His 13-acre smallholding was fenced, but there were gaps were the dogs could escape. David Hinton Jones, defending, said Nell had lived with Davies’ family for five years, and he was not aware of any problems involving his dogs leading up to this incident. He added that Nell had been taken to a rescue centre to be re-homed, and was no longer owned by his client. Magistrates imposed an order prohibiting Davies’ dogs from being out of control and requiring him to secure his property. Davies was ordered to pay a total of £725 in fines, compensation and court costs.

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