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news
German Shepherd (wikimedia commons CC Att-SA 4.0 by Jakub Hałun)Teenage cyclist left with puncture wounds after bite from pet Alsatian
A teenage cyclist suffered puncture wounds that needed hospital treatment after being bitten by a pet German Shepherd on a reclaimed former railway in Derbyshire in April.
The Derbyshire Times reports Patricia Williamson told a court this week that her dog suffers "anxiety" around cyclists having been hit by someone riding a bike when she was a puppy.
The incident happened on April 29 on the former railway between Clowne and Woodthorpe when, according to prosecutor Rebecca Williamson (no relation to the defendant), the 14-year-old "noticed two dogs in the area".
"He described seeing them out of nowhere and one dog coming towards him and biting him at the bottom of his left leg," she continued. "The bite punctured the skin, causing it to bleed."
The dog's owner, 63-year-old Williamson — who was fined £140, ordered to pay £200 compensation, a £34 victim surcharge and £85 court costs — was "apologetic straightaway" and "put the dog back under control".
"She explained the dog didn't like bikes because it was hit by one when it was a puppy," prosecutor Ms Williamson continued, pointing out the dog was not on a lead but had been wearing a head collar.
According to the solicitor representing the dog's owner there have been no other incidents with the five-year-old Alsatian and the pet interacts with Williamson's seven grandchildren regularly without issue.
A magistrate told her: "A young child was injured and the dog was off the lead at the time — this caused significant injuries to a young person. However we have heard the dog is by and large a family pet and there have been no issues in the past.
"This appears to be an isolated incident and you were mortified by the effects of it."
Williamson admitted being in charge of a dog which was dangerously out of control and was given a contingency destruction order in relation to her pet, that it should be muzzled and on a lead at all times when in public.
Main image for illustration purposes only.
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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16 comments
I think with the muzzling order - under risk of destruction - I would say that the police and courts were unconvinced by the protestations of innocence. It appears that the dog walker had a dog off the lead, not under close control on a public highway. Too many dog owners think that if there are no cars about then they can let their dogs run free without any thought to people around. My pet hate is people who have dogs that they know bounce up to people yet they don't even make a pretence of trying to restrain their dogs, and assume that I am going to enjoy the attention of their ill-behaved beast whereas I am wondering if it is a biter.
Cycling out of my cul-de-sac, the place where I live no less, a lady walking her dog along my road had her dog go ballistic and start lunging at me. I skirted well away and started to carry on my way, when it became clear that the lady was very angry with me and was shouting something about dog being frightened of cycles. Rather than an explanation, I took it to be a complaint and a demand that I should evaporate. I met her several times and always gave her a wide birth as she struggled to control her dog, but I never apologised or gave her any excuse to think it might be my fault, and in turn I've never had any apology or acknowledgement that it was her problem. These days it is ok, but I've never quite forgiven her for blaming me for her inadequacies. As a past guide dog puppy walker, I would have happily stopped and spent time desensitising the dog, but when all you get is invective it's not going to happen.
I'm afraid that 95% of the time it will be the owner reacting and generating a response - the simple tightening of a lead or simply a tensing up in response to seeing someone else around can generate a learned reaction.
The only time I've had a problem with a horse was on a main road where we spied the horse on the other side and we slowed. As the horse started playing up we came to a halt and asked whether we could come past, more to generate a gentle conversation rather than in any expectation of a posative response. The rider turned into a wild eyed school run mum loon as she aggressively fought with her horse, and started ranting and raving about cyclists. To be fair, the other riders with her just sat calmly and looked embarrassed. I think that was the rider too.
An old friend who was a dog handler in the police when walking his dog always kept it on lead even though it was a highly trained dog. It was a beautiful German Shepherd that was as docile as anything and would only respond to the handler's commands. My friend told us that no matter how chilled your dog is. There is always the possibility that something could spook it which was why you only let it off lead in a controlled environment.
I've only been bitten by a dog once. Years ago, I was walking home on a public footpath next to a building site and before I knew what had happened, a German Shepherd dog on a lead had bitten my forearm. The security guard mumbled something about the dog thinking that the empty bottle of Lucozade I was carrying being a weapon...
(I went to A&E for a tetanus jab and went back to the site the next day, where the site manager said he didn't know who had been on duty last night and anyway anyone who had been working last night with a dog had definitely been let go and no longer worked for them...).
In the 70's and 80's everyone on the clubrun had long aluminium frame fit pumps on their bikes (Zefal probably).
These were used frequently for defending ourselves from attacking dogs and less frequently for fixing a flat.
It was common to wreck the pump in self defence on a dogs head before they bit you, these pumps are not so popular these days.
Maybe crazy dogs are not the big problem they once were and crazy drivers have taken over?
Dog has cyclist anxiety, so best place for a walk off the lead is a byway where you are highly likely to encounter a cyclist? Sounds more like an admission of negligence.
https://goo.gl/maps/wJ4nDEx95Wh1M7sr6
There are people in my village who walk their dogs on a lead on the playing fields where everyone takes their dogs to let them loose off the lead. They then complain that their dogs don't like other dogs coming up to them
If they don't want other dogs running up to their dog, it's probably because it is reactive. So they don't want to be walking it on the street where they can be cornered putting the dog in a stressful. They don't want to be walking it in a wood where something or someone could appear without warning. They need to be walking it somewhere that have a lot of visibility and the ability to make space and protect their dogs 'bubble' - i.e. an open sports field.
Dogs who go running up to strange dogs, particularly ones that are on a lead, are not under their owners control and shouldn't be off lead.
In relation to my example - a large open area, where all the locals go precisely so their dogs can be safely off the lead, chase balls and each other - I'd disagree with that statement.
Knows that dog doesn't like bikes, has dog off a lead anyway.
Bad dog owners, hate them
I suspect more a case of trying to explain the dog's behaviour, and if we accept the owner's claim of no previous incidents, rather than knowing it had an issue with cyclists.
But all the same, dogs should be under control in public spaces and if she is daft enough to trust it with her 7 grandchildren and something happens then she cannot say there were no warnings.
If she knew the dog had an issue with cyclists, which is what she is saying, she should have had it under proper control anywhere there could be cyclists.
Bad dog owner.
The explanation makes her behaviour worse not better. Poor dog.
If there were no previous incidents, how did she know her dog had an issue with cyclists?
Maybe she kept her dog under control previously which would surely prevent incidents?
I know my my dog has an issue with cycles - he's not had any incidents (beyond barking) because I keep him under close control and I am fully alert, anywhere that cycles might be ridden.