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Barking! After 11 months magistrates decide this sausage dog isn't dangerous
Last updated at 10:22am on 20.09.07
Family pet: Lucy the not-so-dangerous dachshund and Monique Hobson, aged two
Standing 8 inches from the floor, Lucy the miniature Dachshund is unlikely to strike fear into many hearts.
But when a neighbour claimed the Hobson family's dog had nipped him on the ankle, the authorities took drastic action.
Charging Lucy's owner under the Dangerous Dogs Act, they proceeded to court.
It took 11 months, five court appearances and a mountain of paperwork before magistrates finally conceded that the three-year-old sausage dog presented no threat.
Lucy's ordeal began when her owner Melanie Hobson, 26, returned home from the supermarket in October with her two children, Monique, two, and Jacob, four.
She let Lucy off the lead and started carrying in the shopping from the car, a court was told.
But moments later she was confronted by her neighbour, Shaun Anderson, 25, a landscape gardener who lived in the flat above, in Gosforth, Newcastle.
He claimed Lucy had run round his legs before biting him on the ankle.
As Monique picked the animal up, he shouted: "If your dog bites me again, I will have you done."
Ignoring Mrs Hobson's protestations, he returned to his flat. Thirty minutes later, his mother-in-law called the police.
Mr Anderson told Newcastle Magistrates: "I was more or less inconsolable. It grabbed my jeans and ran in between my legs and bit my right leg."
Police visited Mrs Hobson that day. A month later they returned to interview her, despite there being no sign of injury to Mr Anderson or to his trousers.
Officers agreed Lucy was "very cute" - and after reassuring Mrs Hobson the dog was unlikely to be destroyed, they charged her with having a dog that was dangerously out of control in a public place.
The charge came after she refused to accept a caution.
The 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act, brought in by the Tory government, banned certain breeds but also laid the legal blame for attacks on the owners.
Those convicted face a fine of up to £5,000 or six months in jail. Dogs must be destroyed.
Magistrates yesterday took 30 minutes to clear Mrs Hobson, who said afterwards: "It's ridiculous this ever came to court."
The entire case is thought to have cost about £1,500.
The Crown Prosecution Service said there had been a report of the dog biting previously. It said: "Small dogs can, and sometimes do, cause injury if they bite."
Reader views (13)
What a ferocious looking beast! Now that she's gotten a taste of human flesh, watch out!
- Al, Everett, USA
Did this dog even draw blood?
Cassie - Control your dog or have it put down? Excuse me, but aren't dogs, you know, living creatures? I hardly see how an eight inch high walking purse poses as serious a risk as a frigging pit bull. Control your idiocy or I shall campaign to have you put down.
- Sara, CA
Sounds like a tempest in a teapot.
- Judy, The Woodlands, Texas, USA
What a waste of time and government money. Americans like Cassie Killeen may be afraid of small dogs that can't even really bite, but us Brits ought to be smarter.
- James, Essex
So, there was no damage to the pants or his ankle and he was, at 25, "pretty much inconsolable" but did manage to threaten the owner. Seems kind of fishy to me. It also sounds like the cops did not look at the lack of evidence. Glad he isn't my neighbour!
- Lorraine, Manchester
A 25 year old man has his mommy call the cops because a rat-sized dog made him inconsolable?
- John Hassel, Duarte, CA, U.S.A
Come on, Mr Anderson. Put your big-boy pants on and deal with it. You were nipped by a sausage on legs. It's hardly fear-inducing. I've had dogs three times Lucy's size jump and snap at me, and I guarantee you that none of them ever attempted a second shot.
But maybe they make us Wyoming girls tougher than they do British men these days.
Good grief. We need to give this dog a medal, or something.
- L Trout, Torrington, WY, USA
Sounds exactly like the same kind of thing that is happening in the States. It would be hilarious if it were just isolated incidents.
- Robert, U.S.
This is every bit as bad as someone having a much larger dog bite them. An aggressive dog off the leash is an aggressive dog off the leash. The fine should be the same for a pit bull attack as it is for a dachshund attack. Control your dog or have it put down. Show some respect for other people.
- Cassie, Killeen, Texas. US
Monica, Portsmouth - Maybe he didnt want to phone the police as it was a one off and maybe his mistake, however he can't control the actions of his mother in law.
- Mike, UK
Dachshunds are ideal dogs for small children, as they are already stretched and pulled to such a length that the child cannot do much harm one way or the other.
- Threaded, Roskilde, Denmark
My husband is a delivery driver and often meets excited dogs. All he does is stand his ground, talk to them calmly and waits for the owners to come. Recently he was nipped by a dog that was jumping up at him but on no account would he report the accident of a happy yappy dog. And why did this man not have the guts to phone himself and his mother in law have to do it for him.
- Monica, Portsmouth
From the article: Mr Anderson told Newcastle Magistrates: "I was more or less inconsolable. It grabbed my jeans and ran in between my legs and bit my right leg."
This is a 25 year old adult male who has, allegedly, been nipped on the leg by a small dachshund. We are not told the reason for this, perhaps, for example, the man trod on the dog in some way.
But what has become of the human race in the 21st century when a grown man tells a court that he was "inconsolable" after such a trivial experience? One wonders if people are just out and out troublemakers (did Mr. Anderson have a grudge against his neighbours? That would not be unusual) or has he simply lost the sense of proportion?
It seems people are now depressingly "wet" and far too willing to run to litigation in much the way they would run to their mothers as children. I note that it was in fact his mother-in-law who called the police. So should we assume that this 25 year old man and his wife are living with his mother-in-law? Good heavens.
There is much to deplore in this story, but that does not include the actions of a small family pet. What a sad indictment on modern British life!
- Andy, Vantaa, Finland
