Dog attack Wivelsfield East Sussex

[angie1]

My horse was attacked by a bull terrier while we were hacking near Wivelsfield on Sunday afternoon. The dog ran at us from about 50m away, we were only walking and there was nothing which could have been seen as a reason for the attack. My beloved 25 year old pony has serious injuries & I am off work due to injuries.
The police are saying there is nothing they can/will do because the owner says it has never happened before. Given how hard I found it to get them to record the incident, and how many people have now said that they have had near misses, PLEASE can people start reporting things? The next incident could be the death of horse or rider.
If anyone around our area has had an issue with a bull terrier, please let me know.
Thank you

 

[Clodagh]

OMG! That is awful, I thought the law had changed. Have you reported it to the dog warden? Peter Natt may be ablew to advise you, it may be worth putting this in Tack Room. I do hope both you and your horse make a full recovery.

 

[angie1]

Thanks Clodagh. It just seems like no one wants to bother getting involved & the officers I have spoken to have no understanding of dogs.

 

[Clodagh]

I think you need to read the new legislation, I thought you only had to feel threatened for the dog to possibly be PTS. (Not that the dog deserves that, but its owner does).

 

[smiggy]

So sorry
Have you put this on local Facebook pages as not seen anything, might get more response
Hope you are both ok soon

 

[angie1]

I think you need to read the new legislation, I thought you only had to feel threatened for the dog to possibly be PTS. (Not that the dog deserves that, but its owner does).

That’s what I understood too. Mind you, the officers didn’t know about the Dangerous Dogs Act until I quoted it!

 

[Keith_Beef]

The police are saying there is nothing they can/will do because the owner says it has never happened before.

What absolute bollocks!

Imagine I wanted to do a spot of archery in my garden. One of my arrows misses the target, goes between the metal rails of my garden gate, and injures somebody walking along.
"Nothing to be done, because that arrow has never injured anybody before".

I should take all reasonable precautions to make sure my leisure (archery) doesn't injure others. That means things like ensuring that the arrows don't go beyond my control (i.e., if an arrow misses the target, it hits a a barrier of some sort.

The same for the dog: the owner is required to keep it under control and ensure it does not endanger others.

It’s against the law to let a dog be dangerously out of control anywhere.
Your dog is considered dangerously out of control if it:

• injures someone
• makes someone worried that it might injure them.

A dog that injures you is in the eyes of the law already dangerously out of control, therefore an offence has been committed.

 

[Highflinger]

Hope you and your horsey heal very soon.
I am afraid this is becoming an increasing problem. I am finding that "dog walkers" walking 5+ dogs at once are the main problem where I hack. This morning I met a woman with 3 on leads and three running freely. The three loose repeatedly ran at my horse barking - not too serious but I had to stop three times ( we were only walking and my fella is steady and elderly) and eventually asked her to put on leads and got a load of abuse back . I don't think she had leads for them - probably came straight out of the back of her car as there are lots of car parks directly onto the heath.
Last week I has a chap call out his dogs "took no notice " of horses as they approached and bounded up to my youngster -who whipped round and shot off for a few strides. He did nothing and the whole process was repeated twice before I got off and held my boy whilst he went past without any apology.
Such a shame as most either have very well behaved dogs or put them on leads but as with anything the small minority cause mayhem and nothing is ever done.

 

[Cazzza]

Had a similar experience a month ago. The dog ignored its owner bit my pony and chased her through a hedge which meant she also had some nasty barbed wire injuries. The police are still considering if they should prosecute despite witness statements and the vets report. Heard a report on the local news of a dog being immediately impounded that bit a policeman. The dog that attacked us is still being walked around this village unmuzzled and its garden still isn't properly fenced. The legislation is there to do something but I'm not sure about the motivation of the prosecutors when the victim is an animal. It is an outrage. Hope Angie1 and horse are both recovering, feel for you both. Xx