Staffie Owners Please read

UPDATED 2017 First posted 2013


I have today received a written charges attendance required to appear in court in relation to an incident that occurred on 21/6/13 regarding my Staffordshire bull terriers.  Our family companions beloved and pets.

Wilbur 5 years old Father
Ellie 2 years old Dam
Winnie 7 months old Daughter

On the 21st June 2013 I arrived home in expectation of going on our annual holiday for 3 weeks.
On arrival to my home address I began preparation of collecting my belongings from my Works van having made arrangements for the vehicle to be serviced while I was away.  I collected my belongings from the cab of my van to arrive at my home front door with my hands and arms full. I opened my door and elbowed the door to close and proceeded to take two steps forward to put my belongings from van on to my kitchen table. During the few seconds of entry to my home my dogs had escaped through the front door that I had not closed fully using my elbow.
My 19 year old son  and myself then realised that the dog were free and heading towards our local park. We both gave chase fearing for our dogs as my estate is surrounded by a duel carriageway where cars travel at high speeds. Our dogs disappeared into the allies and grassland within our estate.
My son and I were made aware after about 5 maybe 10 minutes that there had been a young girl bitten by a pack of  dogs on the other side of our estate and that an ambulance was due to arrive.
Both my son and I were Mortified! We then proceeded to go to the incident for fear that our dog s were involved.
We arrived at the road where the attack took place to find an ambulance and police in attendance helping a young girl bitten on the face by some dogs.
These dogs were subsequently caught by the police and identified as our beloved pets.

I am unable to describe in words just how stunned and mortified I was at the news it was our dogs that had attacked this young girl.
I am unable to offer any explanation for their reasons for this attack I was in a state of complete shock. These dogs had been bought up as family members and had never bitten anyone. They had been bought up with my teenage boys and were always treated as part of our family and never bitten anyone.
In the hours and days that passed the police made me  aware that they would be keeping the captured dogs for assessment. This assessment I'm told by the police was that these dogs were in fact friendly.
I attended the police station at their request for a statement of facts to be taken. During this meeting my wife was denied access!?.
while I was interviewed. It was at this interview I was privy to observe a photo of the victim. She had sustained an injury to her cheek that required 5 stitches and plastic surgery at Oxford general hospital. I was also requested at this interview to sign our family pets over to the police for them to be able to legally assess there temperament.
I was absolutely mortified that our dogs would do such a thing to this young girl.
In October this year I received a police note through my letterbox requesting a meeting with officer XXXX with regard to this incident. PC XXXX had arrived at my home address while I was at work and requested I contact her. I duly answered her request by phone to be told that PC XXXX was on annual leave. Some weeks later in November PC XXXX arrived at my home address where she and a colleague charged me with the dangerous dogs act. Section 3 (1) and (4)

I have been sent today 6th December 2013 written Charges attendance required to attend the magistrates court  on 03/01/2014 for the offence as the owner of a dog allow it to be dangerously out of control in a public place and cause injury.

On the 3rd January 2014 I attended the magistrates court in relation to this incident supported by the duty solicitor who gave an objective view to the court at what had happened from my & family’s perspective,  the prosecution notes and witness statements were now also made available to The duty solicitor.
The witness statements said a black dog was the instigator for this attack and had jumped up at the child knocked her to the floor then had bitten her on the cheek. The dogs were recovered by the police soon after this attack and pounded.
A subsequent statement from the doctor who treated the young girl advised the court that their had been superficial damage to her cheek that would require stitches to aid a cosmetic remedy and antibiotics. No mention of her mental state was made in court.
I can imagine that this poor child was terrified at this event as was her mother. I cannot begin to understand why our animals would choose to act in this manner they had always been bought up as family members within our household. Privy to all my family’s friends who happened to visit us throughout there lives.
One dog  performed this act and the police knew on the day of this incident, the black one!. Ellie.
The police have done a poor job bordering on incompetent in there reaction to what clearly is a serious matter. But why would they consider and perform  the destruction of all the animals when they knew all the facts?
The police interviewed me some hours after the incident at their request at police station an interview my wife was refused entry to. During the interview the officer performing this task  left a photo of the young girl in plain view for me to see. I was already mortified by this incident, why would an officer consider this act of nastiness an aid to his task? I had already accepted the responsibility for my dogs actions.

Why am I choosing to post this?

As a warning to all friends who are dog lovers, whatever breed. We live in a win no win world where any incident regarding your pets will be addressed in court. You will be liable! so take heed. Get insurance and never let your animals stray they can so easily be destroyed.
For those who happen to read this and do not know me. I was introduced to the Staffie many years ago by my father I have had 40 years+ experience with these wonderful loyal dogs. I understand the bad press these animals can have and would argue that it is always the type of owner that produces feral dogs not the dog. I seems today that this is not the case, My dogs were involved!..
My thoughts at the moment are with the young girl and her mother. I have not been privy to who she is or how they are progressing. I sincerely hope she is healing, If I could message them they would see the sincerity  and maybe take some solace in the fact that my family do feel responsible and very remorseful this insentient had happened to her.

The court was adjourned today for reports. I was advised by the duty solicitor that  she feels the police did not address this incident professionally at all. Maybe there is a lesson to be leaned by them in any future issues regarding family pets. As for sentence your guess is as good as mine. I still cant think of any sentence that will be appropriate  and bring an end to this situation for myself or the young victim. The courts are not going to make me feel any worse whatever the outcome!

For
The young girl, &
Ellie, Winny & Wilbur Staffordshire bull terriers.

I let you down!.

First Posted 2013
Thank you all for the kind replies of support and understanding all those years ago.
Sitting here today re reading my post and remembering this incident still brings me great sorrow.
I reiterate my request for Staffie owners to be aware of your dog at all times. They are supreme loyal animals & great pets.

The legal ramifications for my case rumbled on for two or three years culminating in a civil claim by a win win no win agency for the damages to the mother and child. I had however already paid substantial damages at sentencing. I was able to argue this point successfully.
The civil case only reinforced my belief that this case has always been  about  cash!!!

Moving on now 2017 I did get another dog but not a staffie! sadly for me my time with this wonderful breed is over.  I now have a Springer Spaniel (Ben) I have had him for a year now and he has been great for me to help heal my emotions.

Once again thank you all for your support. If you fancy following Bens adventure you can here:
https://www.facebook.com/bob.george.351756
https://bob490.co.uk

PS sorry for the very late reply. erm  i'v had me hands full!!

Oh my how awful for you all such an emotional roller coaster xxx
Why not come say hi here xx
https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/f7-new-member-introductions

O gosh that's so sad, my thoughts are with everyone it's devastating to hear something so so sad xxx

Oh what a sad story - my thoughts are with you

Tragic - I feel so, so sorry for you all  

What a terribly sad story  

what a sad story   

I can't imagine how you must be feeling, thinking of you all xx

Bob, thank you for your full account of this very unfortunate incident.

Having a very excitable Staffy myself, I understand (and have had experience of) how easy it is for them to escape into the wide yonder given half a chance.

If you are sure that Ellie was the "culprit" - being the only black dog? - then you MUST calmly evaluate her temperament. Is she very excitable and liable to jump up at people? I know my dog is. I also know my dog (at 2 years old about the same age as Ellie) is capable of knocking a young child to the ground, even though the jumping up was playfulness. Do you in all honesty (having seen the photos of the child's injuries) think that they look like a bite (in which case there would surely be two sets of wounds) or more like a claw-scrape. You and your solicitor will need to have access to the doctors' reports on the injuries.
If a claw-scrape, then it may be that Ellie was saying in her rough Staffie way "get up and play" - this won't help the injury but may explain Ellie's behaviour.

You obviously won't have been able to contact the child or her parents directly, but I do hope that your messages of remorse and explanation as to how and why your "pack of dogs" came to become loose on that day have been relayed to them.

I can't and won't comment on the police's handling of the case; tbh I think that is secondary as to whether your dogs (Ellie in particular) are a danger to the general public, or not. And to whether you were irresponsible in letting them loose, or whether it was as an accident.

I am SO sorry for you all - Child, dogs and Bob.

Please do let us know how this matter progresses.

Such a terribly sad situation for everyone involved.

What a tragic story. I can only begin to imagine what you and your family are going through right now.
Please do not think that you let anybody down. It appears that nobody knows what caused the dog to bite the poor girl and I doubt the truth will ever be known. The dogs must've been in a high state of excitement and maybe something spooked Ellie and she has reacted. As terrible as you feel, it's NOT your fault.
Thinking of you guys.

so sorry to hear this, my heart goes out to all concerned   

My heart goes out to you. So sorry to read this sad story.

What a terrible tale, note quite sure what to say really,

It's all so confusing - I've been thinking about this all day at work.

Maybe Ellie was protecting her puppy, Winnie?

Good point by Lynda - was it a bite or a scratch?

What's happened to your dogs now?

Crikey so sad, thinking of you   

I don't know what to say - the whole thing is awful for all concerned.  Have you had legal support from specialists (such as DDA Watch?)
I am so very sorry you are having to go through this xx

Thank you all for your comments and thoughts. The reason for posting this sad tale was to bring to your attention of how a simple laps of judgement can bring you so much sorrow.
We all love our dogs its surprising just how integrated they become woven into our lives.

I guess I just felt that I wanted for as many people who love these great dogs to try and keep
in mind of how easy it is to loose something you love & Maybe prevent someone else suffering the same fate.

I am unable to answer any questions to the incident as I was not privy to witness the actual attack.
Lynda, I think you may have hit the nail on the head. I too think that Ellie had jumped up and her claws had punctured this poor child cheek.

All of the  dogs have been destroyed!!!..... I was not given the opportunity to appeal for any!...

I will update you all after the 28th

Thank you all

I cant begin to tell you all how much your kind comments mean for me and my family.

So sorry to here of this story

Oh no, seems so unfair to destroy them all when they which one had done it. Very sad all round.

I have been following this post for a couple of days and didn't reply because quite honestly I just didn't know what to say. This sort of thing
could happen to any one of us.  I know my boy is very excitable and could easily do the same thing. Their behaviour can so easily be misunderstood.
I too have been a staffie owner for 40+ years. I protect my dog by not letting him off the lead unless I'm 100% sure he is safe, keep my garden
gates locked when he is playing in the garden so that he cannot "over greet' any visitors, and I have a sign saying 'dogs running free' so that
people who are wary won't enter.  But it only takes a minute and one small
lapse for something tragic to happen.

You have my sympathy, I cannot begin to understand how you must feel, and it is so caring of you to tell your story.  I am in tears whilst writing this.

Lizzie

I am devastated for you. You must be truly heartbroken and really dont know what else to say but my heart is with you all the time

Oh dear Bob so very sorry to hear that all your dogs were pts, it seems so senseless.

When I was a small child of about 3-4 years old I was bitten on my face by our then nextdoor neighbours dog which was a black labrador, I still have a scar on my face from it even now. I would not have ever considered for one moment that my neighbours dog be pts because of this however much pain it caused me, I know losing her dog would have caused my neighbour more pain.

This incident happened in my neighbours garden while I was visiting her so the situation is somewhat different to yours but I can see the situation from the other side of things too, I would still not want anyone to loose their pets.

I hope you are able to forgive yourself some day.

Such a sad terribly story. I too use to believe that only bad feral owners bought up dogs that bite but I too have first hand experience of my own dog biting my own child!! It was totally not in his character (he was a border collie, not a staffy) but had been bought up with my children. It was not a savage attack, but enough to cause a 3 day stint in hospital with plastic surgery, needless to say that on my return home I had no other choice but to put my beloved dog down. I carried a lot of guilt (and yes I knew it wasn't my fault) for a good 12 months for what my dog did, it wasn't until I verbally sat down with a good friend and talked that I was able to let go of that guilt. I can only offer words of sympathy like everyone else, thank you for sharing your story x

I feel terrible for you and your family and of course the little one involved. I know you must be feeling so lost that your dogs were pts and reading all your posts you seem like such a awesome human being! I do believe it is best your dogs were pts because the guilt involved if something was was to happen to someone else would be overwhelming, not to mention the impact on whoevers life it was. All the best to you and your family.

I can only say, I hope the dogs were pts in a very caring way.

I actually feel like crying that's just horrible, can't believe u didn't even get to appeal !

Oh gosh, I've only just arrived here and just started my journey with a staffy but am very touched by your story.
I am glad you have finally managed to find another way forwards with a new companion, and thank you for the warning.

I missed this the first time around Bob and can't begin to imagine the nightmare that you and your family have been through these past years.

Thank you for the update and it is a timely reminder to anyone that owns any dog that there can be very serious consequences to all involved through a moments lapse.

How very sad. It just goes to show that no matter how well we think we know and trust our dogs accidents can happen.
Thank you for sharing and hope that you are doing ok.