Court rules for dog to be put down after third attack
AFTER spending more than £10,000 turning his home into a 'fortress' to prevent his dog escaping, Clint Blondel’s pet was still too much of a danger to the public, the Magistrate’s Court ruled yesterday, as it ordered the animal be put down.
The Staffordshire bull terrier Murphy had attacked a passing beagle in the road outside Mr Blondel’s house in St Andrew’s last April – the third such attack on other animals.
In an unusual court sitting, the entire hearing revolved around whether or not the dog should be put down.
The GSPCA and States Vet said that it should, while a dog behavioural expert gave evidence for Mr Blondel.
Judge Graeme McKerrell ruled that the dog should be destroyed, but not before an appeal had been submitted by the defendant.
Mr Blondel was fined £500, reduced due to the measures he had taken to secure the dog on his property.
The defendant, 48, of La Vassalerie, St Andrew’s, had been found guilty at trial after denying failing to restrain an animal that he owned from attacking another.
During the attack, the other dog’s owner was bitten when she tried to stop it and witnesses reported how Blondel had been forced to ram a stick down his animal’s throat to free its jaws from the other.
The other dog needed stitches for multiple puncture wounds and its owner was treated for injuries to her hand.
Judge McKerrell said a destruction order was the only way he could be sure that such an attack would not happen again.
‘I cannot ignore that despite the previous two incidents, a third incident still occurred.
‘The only way I can be sure a fourth incident doesn’t occur is by ruling that the dog be destroyed.’
