https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/courts/dog-who-bit-delivery-driver-put-down-after-owner-handed-probation-order/a1492884341.html
Paul Higgins
Yesterday at 17:00
A Coleraine woman whose dog bit a man delivering food, leaving him with scars to his side, was handed a 12-month probation order today.
Initially, District Judge Peter King did not make an order regarding the dog — a Staffordshire bull terrier — being put to sleep, but he did prohibit Sarah McKinney from keeping any animals for three years.
“The dog lives, just not with her,” District Judge King told Coleraine Magistrates Court.
However, a short time later, McKinney came back to the judge to concede: “She is a dangerous dog and I have no control of her.”
“If she’s taken from me I believe her behaviour will get worse and I have nobody to look after her, so she would end up in a kennel and her behaviour would get worse,” McKinney told the court.
“Very well, I will make the destruction order. Thank you for coming back to me,” District Judge King replied.
McKinney, from Rosemary Place in Coleraine, had entered a guilty plea to possessing a dog which attacked another person.
A prosecuting lawyer outlined how the victim approached McKinney’s home to deliver food on October 28, 2021.
The defendant opened the door and as she was handed the food delivery, the victim heard her shout, “Oh, s***, I didn’t know she was out,” as the Staffy “sprung from the hallway and bit him on the side of his torso”.
Eventually the animal let go and ran towards a neighbour’s house.
The victim could hear McKinney shouting at the Staffy, said the lawyer, adding that although the victim shouted for help, “none was forthcoming” so he drove himself to hospital.
District Judge King confirmed he had seen the “rather unpleasant photos” of the wounds and subsequent scarring, while the lawyer confirmed the dog that attacked him was not licensed at the time.
He told District Judge King that the council were seeking a ban on McKinney keeping any animals, as well as a destruction order for dog, but defence solicitor Garrett Greene said he was “somewhat on the back foot”, as the council had previously said they would not be asking for the dog to be destroyed.
District Judge King said he would have been making that order, but “my concern is to ensure a fair hearing” so, given the earlier council stance, he would allow the dog to live.
However, He told McKinney: “It is clear that you are not a fit person to be involved in keeping or having a dog, let alone a dangerous dog.”
In addition to the probation order, McKinney was ordered to pay £276 towards costs and a further £250 compensation to the victim.
A few minutes after the hearing concluded, McKinney returned and said she was willing for the dog to be put to sleep.
by columboscoat