THE owner of a dangerous dog that bit three people has been ordered to pay compensation totalling £2,500.
Magistrates sitting at Harrogate Justice Centre also ordered that Gemma Fisher's dog be destroyed, unless an appeal is lodged, and she was disqualified from keeping a dog for seven years.
Fisher, 41, of Greenroyd Mill, Sutton-in-Craven, pleaded guilty in January at Skipton Magistrates Court to three charges of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury.
The dog – a Staffordshire bull terrier French bulldog cross called Callie – bit a postman, BT worker and council refuse collector outside her home within the space of three weeks.
All three victims had been injured and two reported going to Airedale Hospital where they had been treated, and given tetanus jabs and antibiotics.
A BT engineer, attacked by Callie on July 23 last year, said the dog had bitten him twice.
The man described how there had been apologies from the owner at the time, but he had felt them insincere. The dog's teeth had got through his thick working trousers and blood was pouring down his leg.
He was treated at Airedale Hospital and reported the incident to the police because he feared the dog might bite a child.
The refuse collector used a bin to shield himself from the dog after it bit him on August 5. Required stitches could not be done, because of the bite's position behind a knee.
The court heard in mitigation that Fisher – of previous good character – had taken steps to control the dog including the use of baby gates to stop it getting out, a crate to put it in, a muzzle and a special collar designed to calm it down.
She had acquired the dog when it was a puppy and it had become more aggressive after it came into season for the first time.
The court was told that the dog had been seized by police following the third attack and taken into kennels, where it remained at a cost of £26 per day. At the time of Fisher's January court appearance, the bill stood at more than £4,100.
Fisher received a 12-month conditional discharge, and was ordered to pay four lots of compensation – three of £500 and one of £1,000. The dog will be destroyed, unless there is an appeal within 21 days of the sentencing.
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