Court

DOG MAULING SPECIAL REPORT:
Grandparents: Law Should Be Changed
Weds 4th July 2012 , Yellow Advertiser

A GRANDFATHER who watched his seven-year-old grandson mauled by a Rottweiler on a beach in Southend has called for a change to legislation.

Speaking before the dog's owner Rowan Diedrick was sentenced, the boy's grandfather spoke of his hopes that the judge would send him to jail.

He said: “There have been a lot of these cases in recent years of little children being attacked by these big dogs but the owners haven't got custodial sentences.

“There was a case in Chingford a few months ago where a dog bit off part of a girl's ear and the owner didn't get sent to jail.

“I think it's time to make an example of someone.”

The grandfather said UK legislators could take a leaf our of Europe's law books.

He said: “In some European countries, these sort of dogs aren't allowed outside unless they're muzzled and they are on leads.

“We need to do something because we can't have a climate where parents and grandparents are afraid to take their children to the park or especially to the beach.”

Speaking after the sentence, the boy's grandmother added: “I spoke to a witness in the case who said there were still lots of dogs on the beach without leads.

“They said they mentioned it to the police and they said they had no jurisdiction on a beach over a civic offence.

“It's like they're waiting for someone to be attacked before they do anything.

“All this pussyfooting around the rights of dog owners is actually putting every citizen of this country at risk. Countries like the Republic of Ireland and France protect their citizens.

“Why is it people's God-given right to walk about with a potential weapon, basically?

“I'm very disappointed that there's nothing happening at a parliamentary level. I've heard it's averaging at one child per week attacked by a dog in this country. The politicians are just putting it off and hoping it will go away.”

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