can some one please explain to me how to get around section two of the dogs act1871/ the dangerous dog act1989

A Westie(f) got into my garden after its owner deliberately allowed it to deficate outside my home on public grass and on the pavement leading to my back garden door.The bitch was left unattended,and desperately wanted to get into my garden.Iit eventually managed to wedge a panel out from the door and entered the garden and came into contact with a (f) mastiff.The Westie then ran out of the garden through the broken door,followed my the mastiff,who by the way had not long had puppies. The mastiff forced the rest of the panels out and followed the Westie which growled and bared its teeth at the larger bitch. The Westie did not bare its neck or submit and the larger dog tried in vain to pick it up by the scruff of its neck, the Westie,kicked out and the mastiff realising that the Westie was to big to carry,tried to nudge it towards the garden.The mastiff was called in,the Westi followed,i tried to shoo it away and was bitten.The Westie died,the owners son a cop and i need help!The owners son is a Pc and he has got invoved.A local Sgt came around our home,questioned our daughter about the incident and put her under alot of pressure about being able to enter the property,he asked her if she thought the pets were dangerous and told her in no uncertain terms when he did not get a favourable response that the dogs could not stay in the property and that some thing could be done without it ever having to go to court. You see my wife is a pcso and he made out that they both worked for the same people so it was okay to talk to him. He also said that he didnt want to get her mum into trouble by sending her an email at work and that he wanted to deal with her as an ordinary resident,so my daughter wasnt sure what to do,but didnt let him into the house and didnt let him see the dogs! He has since pulled rank,when my wife asked him why he was questioning a 15 yr old and has made the above app.On sunday he was seen next door with neighbour taking in her shoping bagMy wife has been sent a letter from the courts that an order be made for a dog namely a Bull mastiff called(name unknown to be kept under control (or destroyed) Pursuant to section 2 of the dogs act 1871 as amended by the dangerous dog act 1989. This wasnt the only time that her female had tried to get into the garden and she has a specific part of her garden bridged in,not to prevent my animals getting in but to stop her late Westie from getting out! I dont wish for any of my animals to die,though i seriously considered having the female mastiff put down out of respect,but i just dont know,i truley feel from its actions that it not wish to hurt the smaller dog( ie. trying to pick it up by the scruff of its neck,with protest) and that on an all white dog,there was no blood,but the fact remains that even if her dog was not used to interacting with other dogs and did not know the rules of its own kingdom,its still dead and i have a dilemma!My neighbours dog was untrained and never responded to any of her command to it ever several times it just ran away and on one occasion earlier on in the year it ran away for several hours and came back impregnated. The owner was unaware right up until the last few weeks and then tried 2 blame it on the local pooch parlour where she takes her dog for a pamper.This did not wash and the puppies were dispatched within 4-5week of birth. The incident concerning her dog being picked up by the scruff of its neck (where i personally belief the injuries took hold) was on the same grass verge that my neighbour had let her female out onto to deficate and it is a public place and so this is where my problem lies. the mastiff was not mussled as it was initially in doors and went 2 investigate the noise it could hear in the garden and was also not on a lead! What is the worse case scenario and what happens if i find home for the dog before court date? i believe that the Sgt want 2 verify ownership

The law is there for a reason.

I don't think they'll have a case.1. the dog was unattended2. it forced it's way into the garden3.the owner shouldn't be letting her dog defecate in a public place with out picking it up. (health and safety)4. the little shit bit you. Surely you had to get a tetanus jag ;)5. because it bit you . the dog would be a dangerous dog, and the owner should have a licence for such a creature under the dangerous dogs act. If it was me I'd have it put down if if didn't die. Your argument- What if that was my child ?!I think if there's a court order there's not much you can do. sorry to say. but you may have a fight using the puppies as a case. how old are they? and are they still lactating?

everything you explained to us is what you need to explain to the courts (if its taken that far) its called dog-at-large..and it trespased onto your property...take picture of your dog, the panel which she entered your yard, and your dogs puppies (to show why your dog was uptight that day)...good luck!!!

The crucial point here was that you are required to ensure that the dog cannot get to a member of the public. In failing to maintain the fence adequately you have committed the offence -not the dog!!!!!It matters not what the other dog or owner did - the law puts the onus on you and if you allow circumstances to develop whereby your dog can get to a member of the public and simply put them in fear of being bitten - YOU have probably signed it's death warrant!!!Responsible dog ownership means just that - you are responsible!!!

You will need a lawyer . If you say truthfully that the Westie forced its way into your garden where your mastiff was securely contained , breaking the door , so that your dog could get out . I think the ownus is on the Westies owner to control his dog , not to let him trespass in private gardens . Your dog obeyed when called , so was evidently in control and on his own property . Your dog was not out walking with you , or unmuzzled roaming the streets . I think the law falls on your side ; perhaps you have a public liability insurance that would pay damages to the owner of the Westie .It might be argued that your garden door wasn't in very good shape ; but your dog didn't break it .

I love dogs, but have a real problem with irresponsible owners.Spend your day wisely by phoning around solicitors, you need to find one that is really sympathetic to your case.The Westie's owners should get fined for allowing it's dog to foul in the streets and not pick it up, and there are byelaw's for certain areas for allowing dogs off the lead in a public place (you'd need to contact your local counsellor for advice on this).And as the owner's son is a police officer, it wouldn't be right that he dealt with the case.Best of luck mate, sounds like you've had a bad time of it.

The first thing that I would address here is the fact that a Police Officer questioned a "Minor" without her parents permission or presents! He knows the law and should not have put your daughter in that position or under that kind of pressure. There should be some kind of recourse in this.Second of all, It isn't fair that you have your do restrained and someone lets their dog roam free and it causes you this kind of problems!!!! Now they make you out to be the cause.If this just happened, I would take pictures of where the Westie broke in and get statements from your other neighbors stating that the owner of the Westie was not a responsible owner by letting it out to roam free and to defecate in "public" areas without cleaning it up. I would also take pictures of the bite that the Westie gave you. Also keep any receipts if had to go to the ER or a doctor for a tetanus shot, which you definitely need!!! Or any other kind of treatment that you have to have.It is a sad situation when you loose your pet because of someone else. After what you explained about the "Owners son being a Cop" I think that what he did was "abuse of his position as a COP".Good luck, and I hope that you don't have to find your Mastif another home.

I think you will win. Her dog was off the lead and unsupervised and forced itself into your garden. Your bullmastiff acted acordingly and even though it was outside your house when she picked up the westie she was provoked to be outside by the uncontrolable westie. Do you know for a fact that your dog killed the westie? You need to see some medical evidence of this i think. Also, please don't put your dog to sleep. I think that the court will have to do evaluations on your dog first and will realise that she is not a dangerous dog and that she was just protecting herr house and her pups and rightly so! good luck, please let me know the outcome (very interested as i too have a bullmastiff and i would hate for anything like this to happen to us). Good luck again xx

this one is a hard one i have a small jack who is very protective of her garden, home, and I'm asking myself what would i do/think if i was in the westie owners placemy jack used to get into my neighbours garden it originally wasn't fenced, it is now but whilst she as gotten in when she thinks I'm not looking luckily shes lost interest but i digress, if she had got into a garden and started being aggressive to another dog ( shes a wuss though ) doing exactly as you said the westie did then id say i could not nor would i want your dog punished in any way, id be grief stricken she'd died but id have to say it was down to me especially when you take everything else into consideration. this dog obviously was allowed to do as it liked when it liked, your dog was in its own home and therefore didn't need to be muzzled, the westie intruded on your dogs territory, she was also nursing puppies she was protecting her puppies, i hope this goes well for you best of luck