A 59-year-old Goulburn Valley man pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to being a person in control of a dog that attacked causing serious injury, being a person in control of a dog who rushed a person and owning a dog at large between sunrise and sunset.
Prosecutor Simon Pogue said a female red and white boxer ran at and bit a victim who was walking past the man’s property on February 18.
After running at her, the dog bit the victim on the back of her thigh, tearing out a strip of flesh about 5cm by 10cm.
The dog had been running alongside the man’s car as he was driving out of the property when the attack happened, the court heard.
The man yelled at the dog to get off the victim and drove her home.
She then got surgery at the hospital to treat the wound and was discharged later that day.
The dog was seized by council on March 20 and was still impounded.
The man’s defence solicitor, Emma King, said the dog wasn’t her client’s, but belonged to his stepson’s ex-girlfriend.
However, his stepson was overseas at the time of the attack, so the man was left to take care of the dog.
She said her client was concerned about the welfare of the dog, and was sadly trying to get it euthanised because of the time it had spent in the pound and the associated costs, but had trouble doing so due to him not being the registered owner.
Ms King said the dog wasn’t behind the gate it should’ve been when the attack happened, and it had a “funny tooth” sticking out that made the injury worse. She said the tooth had since been removed.
Ms King said the incident was “unfortunate”, but noted the significant delay it had taken for the matter to get to court.
Magistrate Simon Zebrowski placed the man on a 12-month adjourned undertaking to be of good behaviour, and ordered he pay the council costs of $3789.
The costs included $1920 for shelter and veterinary costs and $1869 for legal costs.
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