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Cyclist bitten by dog… and then abused by owner

Police are searching for the pet owner after he aimed a volley of insults at the passing bike rider

Police in Wiltshire are looking to speak to a dog walker who unleashed a torrent of abuse at a passing cyclist – after the bike rider had pointed out that he was attacked by one of the man’s pets.

The cyclist was riding on the Ox Drove, a cross-country walking and cycling route near Salisbury, at around 6.35pm on 15 September when he approached two dogs, one of which attacked him, biting his leg. It is currently unclear how seriously the cyclist was injured in the attack.

According to Wiltshire Live, the cyclist reported the incident to the dogs’ owner, a grey-haired man in his 50s or 60s, who allegedly then proceeded to verbally abuse the bike rider.

“We are hoping to speak to this man in connection with an incident in Salisbury,” a spokesperson for Wiltshire Police said.

The spokesperson added that the dog owner, or anyone who knows him, have been asked to contact the police on 101, quoting reference number 54220097780.

> Scottish court orders dog owner to pay £400 compensation to cyclist bitten twice by German Shepherd

In 2018, a cyclist in Scotland received £400 in compensation after he was twice bitten by a German Shepherd while out for a ride.

Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told that the rider received puncture wounds to his left leg with a “significant amount of blood coming from them” following the incident, which occurred in May that year.

The pet’s owner, who had pleaded guilty to having a dangerously out of control dog, had investigated getting a muzzle so there would be no similar incident in the future.

He said that the dog had been rescued and had suffered abuse as a puppy, adding: “It’s thought there might have been an incident with a cyclist in the past.”

> Oxford man jailed for using his dog 'as a weapon' against city centre cyclists 

A few months later, in March 2019, an Oxford man was jailed for 18 months for deploying his dog “as a weapon of intimidation” against city centre cyclists.

Alexander Andrews waged a “campaign of violence” against cyclists on Parks Road, near to Keble Road, in October and November 2017.

Construction work meant that the cycle lane was blocked at that time and cyclists were expected to dismount. Enraged by those who didn’t, Andrews began arguing with the cyclists before setting his dog, Piglet, on them.

While Andrews was jailed for 18 months and ordered to pay almost £17,000 in compensation to the victims, kennelling costs and court costs, Piglet underwent “rehabilitation” to counteract its former owner’s influence.

After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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13 comments

Avatar
Motdoc | 2 years ago
2 likes

I moved to Canada and now carry a huge can of pepper spray in case of bears (there are very many of them). In all honesty though it feels more likely it'll end up on someone's aggressive dog. 

Avatar
Sub5orange | 2 years ago
2 likes

Some people are just arseholes, whatever it is they do, walking their dogs, jogging, driving, cycling. The other day I came across a jogger on a not very wide canal path and though I stopped to let him pass, he shoulder butted me and than shouted abuse at me for as long as I could hear him as I cycled off. Granted I called him an arsehole after his deliberate shoulder butt. 

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brooksby | 2 years ago
2 likes

I wonder if there was a "vigilante" element of "Well, I'm sure cyclists aren't allowed along here anyway, so damn him!" going on...?

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pockstone | 2 years ago
3 likes

Did anything come of the vicious 'assault by dog' in Lancaster recently reported here? It seemed like the Police had lot's to go on. Any arrests?

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PRSboy | 2 years ago
13 likes

The dog just needs to say it was chasing a squirrel, and didnt see the cyclist as the sun was in its eyes.

How is it you can be prosecuted for using your dog as a weapon, but not your car?

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to PRSboy | 2 years ago
7 likes
PRSboy wrote:

The dog just needs to say it was chasing a squirrel, and didnt see the cyclist as the sun was in its eyes.

How is it you can be prosecuted for using your dog as a weapon, but not your car?

Typical - always blaming squirrels

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morgoth985 | 2 years ago
4 likes

The only thing worse than dogs is dog owners.  Present company excluded of course.

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Secret_squirrel replied to morgoth985 | 2 years ago
13 likes

Rubbish! Dog owners are like drivers and cyclists.  A small selfish minority spoil it for everyone.

(Basically 5-10% of humanity will act like dicks in any given situation)

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morgoth985 replied to Secret_squirrel | 2 years ago
0 likes

I know.  It was meant to be tongue in cheek.  Hence the present company excluded bit.  

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Secret_squirrel replied to morgoth985 | 2 years ago
1 like

Sorry.  Went whooshing over my head  3

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morgoth985 replied to Secret_squirrel | 2 years ago
3 likes

No prob.  I'm not great at this humour stuff.  Being a Dark Lord and all.

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Rik Mayals unde... replied to morgoth985 | 2 years ago
4 likes

Oh I don't lknow. They are very talented. I mean, it takes a hell of a lot of skill to scoop some shit into a bag, tie it up then hurl it into the trees so it hangs from a branch like a gaudy, shit infested baubel.

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Car Delenda Est replied to Rik Mayals underpants | 2 years ago
2 likes

Glad to know our work doesn't go unappreciated.

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