Victim of Inverness dog attack to be paid compensation
A 60-year-old owner of a blue American bulldog who failed to keep it under proper control has been ordered to pay £750 compensation to a neighbour it attacked.
Inverness Sheriff Court was told that the 10-month-old dog called Storm, who has since been put down, bit a chunk out of the man's arm, exposing the muscle.
Storm's victim had to visit the hospital twice a week for 10 weeks for treatment and has been left scarred.
Aisma Muizniece admitted failing to keep the animal under control and it attacked another dog owner outside their home in Blarmore Avenue, Inverness on June 6, 2021.
Sheriff Ian Cruickshank heard that Muizniece allowed her teenage son, who has learning difficulties, to take the dog for a walk along her street.
A 67-year-old man was also out with his pet and Storm made to attack it with the owner stepping in to protect it.
But Storm attacked him instead and bit him on the arm to severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
Procurator Fiscal Sharon Ralph told the court that Muizniece's son was pulled off his feet as the dog charged the neighbour, who was left bleeding heavily from his wound.
She added that other neighbours had expressed concern about the dog and that Muizniece's partner had told police when she was charged that the animal did not like men.
"The consultant said it was fortunate that no veins or arteries had been damaged by the dog," Mrs Ralph said.
Defence solicitor Willie Young said his client was "ashamed and embarrassed by what had happened to her neighbour, who, she tells me, retains a good relationship with".
He went on: "They had had a dog which died of cancer a couple of months before they got this dog from a breeder in Glasgow. They paid a not insignificant sum for it. In the early stages, there had been no signs of aggression towards individuals or other dogs and it had only been with them for a matter of months.
"Normally she and her son, now aged 20, would walk together but it was agreed that her son could walk the dog on his own on occasion.
"It is obvious he lost control of the animal and she fully appreciates the severity of the matter. They have since acquired another dog as her son forms a better association with animals than he does with individuals."
Sheriff Cruickshank placed Muizniece under eight months of social work supervision.
He told her: "This is a serious offence given that a person was injured. Had it not been that the dog had already been euthanised, I would have made a destruction order. I am also going to impose compensation based upon your means of £750."
Payment will be made at £75 per month.
