A young dog owner whose two animals bit and wounded a man as he walked to work has been sentenced by a judge.
Keith Reynolds was heading to his job on Kingstown Road in Carlisle just before midnight on January 11, and initially saw the German Shepherd and Rottweiler running around.
At the junction with Lowry Hill Road, the two dogs took Mr Reynolds to the ground. He was bitten on the left buttock and right knee, suffering puncture wounds.
One witness called an ambulance while another tried to intervene but was forced to retreat to their car. Other motorists sounded their horns during further attempts to help.
The dogs ran off and were found in a garden by police. One officer desperately kicked the Rottweiler in the face, noted the German Shepherd was also aggressive and ultimately fled to his patrol car. The dogs were trapped in the garden until trained experts arrived.
Mr Reynolds spent several hours in hospital, receiving a tetanus booster injection and antibiotics. “Probably more seriously, as it turned out, he had sprained his ankle while being taken to the ground,” prosecutor Brendan Burke told Carlisle Crown Court.
He was left on crutches, spoke of acute ankle pain and described still being off work months after the incident. “I believe that these dogs were dangerous and need to be destroyed,” he had stated. “It could have happened to somebody more vulnerable than me, such as a child or elderly person.”
One witness had told police of the dogs: “I do believe they were out to kill. I can’t imagine the traumatic experience of the victim.”
Owner Shane Reid, 20, was brought to crown court and told a judge he had been exercising the pets some distance away, near Houghton, when they ran off having been “spooked” by another dog. He learned of the attack the next morning, and alerted police.
He later admitted being the owner of a dog which caused injury while dangerously out of control.
Judge Nicholas Barker gave Reid, of Kirkpatrick FlemIng, a 12-month community order comprising 140 hours’ unpaid work. He must also pay a £1,200 compensation contribution and was made subject to a contingent destruction order.
This means Reid’s dogs must be neutered, muzzled when outside of his home and kept on a lead during walks, effective indefinitely.
