A pensioner is in need of a plastic surgery after an out of control dog left her with life-changing scars in Hartlepool. The dog's owner has been convicted.
According to court documents, the dog's owner, identified as Annette Moore, was taking her daughter's dog Roy out for exercise when the animal escaped and attacked a fellow dog walker and her pet.
The victim identified as Vera Raper said that she was walking near West View Cemetery in Hartlepool when she saw Moore walking Roy and recognised the pet as she'd previously seen it go 'crazy' at passing traffic and people. She picked her own dog up and moved across the street walking towards King Oswy Drive, saying she didn't want to pass the dog on the pavement.
However as she continued on her walk she saw a brown dog come 'flying round the corner' on its own without Moore before then attacking Tilly. She said the dog was snarling and biting Tilly 'again and again'. Mrs Raper tried to stop the attack but fell over as a dog lead became tangled round her legs.
Roy the terrier then ran at her neck during the attack while a passer-by stopped to help. Mrs Raper said there was a 'lot of blood' on Tilly and was concerned for her animal. But the man who had stopped to help realised that the blood was not from the animal but from Mrs Raper who had been attacked in her face.
Moore then appeared at the scene and intervened to pull her dog off Tilly, including hitting it to make him stop, before taking her dog home. Mrs Raper was taken to Hartlepool urgent care department but was told her injuries were too severe to be stitched and that she would require plastic surgery.
When she returned home, she was visited by Moore who had knocked on doors in the area to try to find her. She explained that her dog was her daughter's and was "really sorry" for what had happened and that she found the dog difficult to control.
Teesside Magistrates' Court was told that Moore had the pet on two leads during the walk as she was training her but that Roy had escaped from her garden after she had taken the leads off. Moore went out to find the pet and said she came across the two animals fighting and Mrs Raper on the floor before intervening to try to make it stop.
In a statement, Mrs Raper told how she had been left traumatised by the attack and suffered long-lasting pain, including nerve damage. She added that she no longer felt confident taking her own dog on long walks.
Alex Wood, representing Moore, said Moore had no previous convictions and had had dogs all her life without issue. She said Moore's daughter had had the animal since it was six weeks old and that Moore deeply regretted what had happened.
Ms Wood said: “When she saw the injury she was absolutely horrified and extremely sorry.” District judge Helen Cousins sentenced Moore, of West View Road, Hartlepool, to a conditional discharge for two years. She must also pay £500 compensation.
The fate of the dog, which has now a new owner in Rochdale, will be considered at a separate hearing next month.
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