Five bulldogs involved in two separate attacks on women must be put down, a court has ruled.Court hands down death sentence to Prestatyn woman Donna Whitelam's five dogs after they bit two visitors to her home
Magistrates in Llandudno also ruled that their owner, nursery nurse Donna Whitelam, should be barred from keeping any dogs for two years as they did not consider her a “fit and proper person to be in charge”.
The court heard that Avon lady Louise Houghton and Whitelam’s next-door neighbour Lisa Louise Quinton were both bitten on the legs after calling at Whitelam’s house in Isfryn Road, Meliden, Prestatyn.
Prosecutor Diane Williams said that, on August 7 last year, Mrs Houghton texted Whitelam to say she would be calling and that Whitelam usually spoke to her through an open window.
'They just kept coming and coming'
When the door was opened, one of the bulldogs called Nellie pushed past Whitelam. Four other dogs – Reggie, Candy, Angel and Honey – then followed.
“They just kept coming and coming,” said Mrs Houghton.
She was bitten on the back of the ankle and behind the knee and, when she fell over, the dogs tried to jump on top of her.
Mrs Houghton screamed, “Get them off”, and one of Whitelam’s sons came to help remove the dogs.
Whitelam, 41, apologised and said: “She has never done this before. I can’t believe it.”
'It's clear she had no control over the dogs'
Mrs Houghton said the deep puncture wounds behind her knee bled profusely and she went to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd.
In her victim impact statement, she said: “It is quite clear she had no control over the dogs.”
The second incident occurred just over a month later, on September 11, when Mrs Quinton called round to give the defendant some advice about a student grant.
Again, the dogs pushed past Whitelam in the doorway and Mrs Quinton was bitten on the buttock, thumb and thigh.
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“I felt I had to get out of the garden,” she said.
She had three stitches in the thigh wound and said in a victim impact statement that, although she did not want the dogs put down, she feared for the safety of others.
'The dogs had acted in a pack temperament'
Whitelam pleaded guilty to one charge of having a dog dangerously out of control and causing injury and two lesser charges of owning dogs dangerously out of control.
The only dog identified as having caused injury was Nellie.
Robert Vickery, defending, said Whitelam had owned the dogs for five years and her children had grown up with them.
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He stressed that both incidents had occurred on the defendant’s own property.
They could not be muzzled because of their squashed features but, on the advice of a vet and the Breed Society, she had since put up a warning sign, put a bell on the gatepost to avoid people having to enter the garden, installed an interior gate and started using a plug-in fragrance to help calm the dogs.
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“She is a responsible person and the dogs are not trophy dogs or an attack weapon,” said Mr Vickery.
For the three offences, Whitelam was given a 12-month community order involving 150 hours of unpaid work and an 8pm to 6am curfew for four weeks.
She was also ordered to pay Mrs Houghton and Mrs Quinton £500 each in compensation, in addition to costs of £170.
Chairman John Rooney said that, if she had acted responsibly after the first incident, Mrs Quinton would not have sustained serious injuries.
“We are satisfied the dog (Nellie) constitutes a danger to public safety, taking into account its temperament, its behaviour and yourself not being a fit and proper person to be in charge,” he said.
On the second occasion, he said, the dogs had “acted in a pack temperament”.
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