Dangerous dog attack owners defend their pets

The owners of dogs that have attacked humans and other pets have said they “saw the beauty” in their animals and wanted to give them a second chance.

The number of incidents where an out of control dog has caused injury has risen sharply over the past five years.

Rob Chant from Bishopsworth in Bristol took ownership of a Bullmastiff in January.

After having the dog, which he named Handsome, for just three days it lost control and began mauling a neighbours’ dog. Mr Chant was injured himself by the dog as he tried to intervene and still has a crooked finger as a result of the incident.

Caution: Graphic description of violence

He said: “He was brought up to fight, so his ears are clipped, his tail’s clipped so… he’s gone jogging it round the corner, gone straight into her (his neighbour’s) hallway and he’s grabbed her dog and ripped all his leg open.

“I panicked, I dived on top of him, and as I grabbed him he’s bit down and bit into me fingers, I’ve grabbed his cheeks. So he’s grabbed that finger on one side and done that finger on another side. I’m bleeding all over the place, I’ve managed to drag him out.”

The neighbour called the police and her dog had to be put down because of its injuries.

Mr Chant said the police told him he would also have to put his own dog down because of what it did, or face prosecution.

He found a vet who carried out the procedure for free.

Claire Garraway from Withywood in Bristol owns three dogs including a female rottweiler which attacked her 25-year-old son in her home.

Ms Garraway said: “My two sons were having a big scrap and she could hear all the commotion behind the door, she didn’t know who it was so she automatically bit my son on the bum and he went to hospital and had a tetanus jab.”

She said: “I was unhappy that she done that obviously but I didn’t want to get rid of her or put her down because she’s never done anything like that before, and I think the commotion was so much she was doing it out of protection of me.”

According to the government, dogs are considered dangerously out of control if they injured people, or made people concerned they were about to be attacked.

Penalties included unlimited fines, six months’ imprisonment, or both, and offenders might be banned from owning dogs in the future.

Allowing a dangerous dog to kill someone could lead to 14 years’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.

Despite Mr Chant’s experiences, he said he did not regret buying a dog breed known for fighting.

Mr Chant said: “I can see the beauty in him… they deserve a chance.

“Alright they were brought up to clip their ears and get in there and fight and win some money, they were brought up like that.

“If they come out of that and nobody wants them any more because they’re like that they deserve a chance for them to pull back, that’s only fair.

“And if they don’t, then yeah put them down,” he said.

Jenny and Colin Coombes from Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset adopted a Romanian border collie rescue dog which they named Cwtch.

He bit a builder who was working in their home.

Ms Coombes said: “He lunged and he nipped. We made sure the guy went to hospital and he was okay about it.”

The couple were worried it might happen again.

Ms Coombes added: “We did debate returning him to the home, the dogs home that we got him from and they helped us over that they were very good and they supported us and offered us extra training and we got through it.

“It was our fault because we were at that stage where we were still inexperienced with handling a dog like that and we just allowed the dog to get a little bit too close to the guy.”

Ms Coombes said she believed dog attacks were not always the owners’ fault.

She said: “Sometimes, especially with a rescue dog it can be a dog that’s got problems and got issues.”

Victims of dog attacks have told the BBC how they have been affected afterwards.

Judy Champion was walking home in West Somerset when an elderly man with three dogs parked alongside her.

“As I passed, the dog shot out [of the car] and grabbed onto my leg,” she said.

Her wound was bandaged up and she was given a tetanus shot and a course of penicillin to resist against any infections.

Mrs Champion is also a dog owner herself and said the experience had left her wary of other people’s pets.

“I’m not scared of dogs,” she said. “But now I’m looking out for dogs all the time even though I have two of my own.”

The owner of the dog that bit Mrs Champion could not be identified so no action was taken.