The owner had left the dog tied to a tree for an hour and half while she tried to get a refund from a phone shop
A woman who was out in Hull city centre was suddenly viciously bitten by an aggressive dog – knocking her to the ground and causing her to suffer two fractures of her pelvis. She also suffered 12 painful puncture wounds to her hand and wrist during the horrific unprovoked attack and she was advised to use a walking frame for six weeks.
The dog had been tied to a tree while its owner was inside a phone shop trying to get a refund – but its muzzle slipped shortly before the dog “lunged” at the victim, Hull Crown Court heard. Annilise Davies, 20, of Peel Street, off Spring Bank, Hull, admitted being the owner of a Cane Corso dog that was dangerously out of control and caused injury to the woman in King Edward Street on May 3.
Georgia Bradley, prosecuting, said that the woman had been shopping in Hull city centre and, during the afternoon, Davies was inside a phone shop for about an hour-and-a-half. She left her dog tied to a tree.
“The dog had been barking and panting and was becoming distressed,” said Miss Bradley. Davies left the shop on a number of occasions to check on the dog.
A witness saw a member of the public try to stroke the dog and she warned Davies, who left the store and asked him not to approach the dog as he was not friendly. “She had to prevent the dog from biting this member of the public,” said Miss Bradley.
“She placed a muzzle on the dog, tied him back to the same tree and went back into the store.” At about 4.50pm, Davies left the shop and approached the dog to untie him from the tree. The muzzle had slipped around his neck.
The woman who had earlier been shopping left Victory Amusements next to the shop and the dog lunged towards her and latched on to her right wrist. She was knocked to the ground by the dog, which was pulled away from her.
The woman was helped by members of the public at the scene but she reported pain in her leg. A witness heard Davies shout: “You shouldn’t have gone near my f***ing dog. If the dog gets put down, you will all know about it.”
Davies left the scene. The ambulance service was called but they declined to assist. The woman was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary by police, who were in the area.
She was brought in by wheelchair as she was struggling to walk or get out of the police vehicle. She had a CT scan the following morning and this showed that she had two fractures to her pelvis.
“She was advised to use a walking frame for six weeks following the incident,” said Miss Bradley. The woman had 12 puncture wounds to her hand and wrist.
She later said that the incident left her feeling really angry. She believed that the dog should not have been left unattended even though it was tied up. She was left physically exhausted and in pain.
Jazmine Lee, mitigating, said that, after the incident, Davies handed the dog over to a male friend because she believed that he would be better equipped to look after it and the dog would be in a better environment. “The dog is permanently with him and is no longer her dog,” said Miss Lee.
“She has accepted full responsibility for the incident. She is mortified. She has been in tears this morning. She is extremely remorseful for what the victim has been through and her injuries.
“She feels just as responsible as the dog. In trying to get the dog away, she feels that she aggravated the situation. She was stressed.
“She was overwhelmed, as was the dog and she was trying to resolve the situation and get the dog out of the area. She left the area to try to calm the situation down and get the dog away from the victim.
“She felt that was the best thing to do rather than stick around and potentially things got worse. She wishes that she could turn the whole thing back and has an extreme amount of guilt.
“She has taken this as a massive lesson. This seems to have been a freak incident. The muzzle had slipped. She could have taken extra measures to make sure that didn’t happen.
The dog was a nervous dog and it wasn’t particularly friendly. It has never bitten anyone before. She is a person who has had dogs all of her life.”
Mother-of-two Davies had a Chihuahua now but it lived with her mother at the moment. Davies had no previous convictions but she had a caution for possessing cannabis on June 29 this year.
Judge Alexander Menary said that, when Davies told the woman that she should not have gone near the dog, it was a “very silly thing to say” when someone had plainly been seriously injured as a result of her actions. “This was, in reality, an unprovoked attack on a member of the public,” said Judge Menary.
“I accept that this is an isolated incident for you and for the dog itself. There was serious injury here.”
Davies was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence and 10 days’ rehabilitation. She was not banned from having control of dogs but more information has been requested about the dog before any decision is made about what should happen to it.