A KIDWELLY man whose husky attacked a puppy after escaping from his garden was told that he was lucky the dog was not going to be destroyed.
The court heard that 34 –year-old Rainer Gotschall had already purchased muzzles for three of his four huskies, and had extended his fence to avoid a repeat of the incident which took place on September 16.
Appearing in Llanelli Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (Jan 4), Gotschall pleaded guilty to one charge of being in charge of a dangerously out of control dog which caused injury.
The court heard that the complainant, Christopher Smith, had been walking his two dogs – a Rottweiler and a Staffordshire terrier pup – along Gotschall’s home street of Maes y Wern at about midday.
When he looked back, he saw a husky, later identified as being called Dushka, sniffing at the puppy. His other dog then growled, and two more huskies appeared. None of the dogs were on leads, and there was no sign of their owner.
The first husky then picked up the puppy in its jaws by its hind leg and ‘shook it violently’, while the other two stood nearby.
The complainant said that the puppy was ‘tiny compared to the husky’. He had to physically prise Dushka’s jaw apart with his hands to get it to drop the other dog, and received injuries to his right hand and arm in the process.
The puppy had teeth marks and lost patches of fur as a result of the attack.
Police attended, and took photographs of the injuries, in which teeth marks were clearly visible on Mr Smith’s knuckles and wrist.
The officers then spoke to Gotschall, who said that he had been in his garden working on his shed and had his four huskies with him. However, he had been distracted by the sound of his children’s voices coming from the house and had gone to investigate.
Unfortunately, he had left a door open, and three of the dogs escaped.
Gotschall identified the dog responsible as Dushka because she had marks on her gums consistent with a struggle.
He was described as ‘distressed’ and was fully aware that it was wrong for the dogs to have been out of control.
In a victim impact statement, the complainant said that he had been forced to take time off work as a result of his injuries, and as a result had lost an agency contract working at a factory. He added that he had been having bad dreams and difficulty sleeping since the attack.
No request for a destruction order was made, but it was stipulated that Dushka be kept on a lead and muzzled at all times in public.
Representing himself, Gotschall pointed out that he never let the dogs off the lead in public anyway, because of the breed’s tendency to run away, and added that he had already purchased muzzles for the three younger dogs, including Dushka.
Gotschall explained that he had already taken precautions to make sure the dogs didn’t escape any more, including raising the height of his fence.
“I’m definitely in control of the animals rather than them being in control of me,” he remarked.
The Chair of the Bench told Gotschall that he was lucky a destruction order had not been requested for Dushka. He was ordered to make sure that the dog was muzzled and on a leash at all times in public.
“The events were slightly out of your control, but by your own admission you were at fault,” he added.
Gotschall was fined £80, and ordered to pay compensation of £200, prosecution costs of £95, and a £30 victim surcharge.
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