Dangerous Dog Offence – Destruction Order Avoided

Case study summary

Our client had accepted that his dog was dangerously out of control and had injured a child. The prosecution wanted to destroy the dog but we convinced the court to impose safeguards instead so that the dog's life was spared.

Case study

Our client was devastated after his dog had acted wildly out of character and bitten a young child.

The dog, who was heavily pregnant, had panicked after a young child ran up to her and tried to stroke her. The client accepted that he was guilty of his dog being dangerously out of control causing but became very worried when the prosecution applied to the court to have the dog destroyed. He had owned animals all of his life and never been in this position before. Therefore, he instructed our specialist criminal defence lawyers to save his dog.

We hired an expert dog behaviourist who provided a compelling report on the dog, and we used this to convince the court that they could ensure public safety by imposing safeguards instead, such as muzzling when in public, and spaying.

The court agreed to make a conditional destruction order, meaning that the dog will be given a second chance as long as the safeguards are adhered to.

The client is very relieved to have his dog back with him and has taken the steps needed to keep the public and his dog safe.