Good afternoon Councillors
I did email you on the 14th of May but as yet have not had a response. In fact I emailed all the local Councillors but only had responses from 3 which is quite disappointing.
I live in Thatto Heath which I am aware is not your local area but I would like to raise some concerns regarding an issue that is affecting the whole borough.
On the 15th of April my dog was attacked in an unprovoked attack by another dog. He died the next day as a result of what the vet described as horrific injuries including multiple broken ribs, multiple punctures to the lungs and massive trauma due to being shaken with force. My dog was a Yorkshire Terrier and the dog that attacked him is a German Shepherd.
What followed was what can only be described as a farce- I was sent on a run around from police to dog warden to police to dog warden and back all the way round again making a quick stop at the RSPCA before making a brief visit at environmental health. It would seem that the dog legislation is pretty outdated and very much a grey area but finding one authority to pin down and take responsibility is a job and half. The dog that killed my dog had attacked at least 4 other dogs before mine, has attacked one after and has been involved in a number of incidents of intimidation and harassment over the past few weeks.
It struck me as incredibly frustrating that these attacks had been ongoing before my beloved Speedy G died so needlessly. The owner involved gave false information at 2 attacks and ran away from 2 which scuppered any early interventions. Having discussed the issue with a number of other campaign groups I decided that an option to prevent such future attacks could be to map dog attacks within the area. Mapping would allow us to collate details- people frequent the same dog parks and people recognize dogs. Identifying problem dogs and owners could allow for early interventions, proper education and hopefully prevent further deaths and attacks. 16 dogs a week in the UK are attacked in unprovoked attacks and statistics suggest that only 50% of dog attacks are actually reported. Given the rigmarole I had to go through and the noise I had to make to get anyone to listen to me I am not shocked that people are reluctant to report these attacks, bearing in mind that we were also grieving while having to chase emails and phone calls.
To be clear- unprovoked attacks are just that, unprovoked, not a miscommunication, not play that got out of hand, just out of the blue- in our case Speedy was walking home on a lead. He had his head down, just wanted to get home for his tea, never bothered with other dogs. My Cranny’s dog was pulling on the lead to get to Speedy- he popped the collar to release his dog who instantly pounced on Speedy and grabbed him across the rib cage and shook him with extreme ferocity and force. He clamped his jaw tight enough to break or fracture almost all the ribs on one side of Speedy’s body causing at least 4 lacerations to the lung.
I began mapping attacks on the 21/5/2020- people were alerting me to attacks via social media. In a period of FOUR DAYS, I logged FIVE incidents of unprovoked dog on dog aggression- all large dogs attacking smaller dogs. One of the attacks was none other that the dog that savaged my Speedy G, not 12 feet away from where he did it but the other attacks happened in other areas of St Helens.
What strikes me is the ‘big dog’ culture that follows (sociologically I don’t know if this is an actual thing but this is how I term it in my own head). All these attacks and many more experiences that people have shared with me bear the same hallmarks- unapologetic owner, the owner actually blames the smaller dog, owner accepts no responsibility, owner returns to the same area having made no changes, owner is abusive to the owners of the attacked dogs. In our case, this man has left us with £10,000 vet’s bill, no apology, he has threatened me, filmed me without my consent, deliberately intimidated my four year old daughter and continues to this day to parade up and down in front of my house with the dog that brutally ripped my dog apart. The dog has been used in further intimidation of other local women, elderly people and recently a dog walker who has a disability. Again, I can see why the threat of a violent or aggressive reaction would stop someone from reporting an incident.
Something has to be done Councillors, and something has to be done right now. It is simply not good enough that people are frightened to use their green spaces or are doing so whilst looking over their shoulders because of these bullies. There is no such thing as a bad dog, only a bad owner but these big dogs are a public threat if they are being wielded by uneducated owners.
What we need now is for someone within the council or the police to take ownership of this. There needs to be a clear and concise policy on how reports of dog attacks are handled and this needs to be agreed and communicated between the council and the police. When dog owners are identified are having problematic dogs they need clear guidance on how to prevent further or escalated attacks and they need clear sanctions should they fail to do the responsible thing. There needs to be more support for victims- https://www.animallaw.info/article/link-cruelty-animals-and-violence-towards-people– although this is American research there are definite links between animal abuse and violence. I know from other people involved in my particular case, they have been too frightened to come forward based on fear of reciprocal violence and research suggests that those fears are founded. The fact is that then dealing with harassment is another legal nightmare- this man threatened me, I put in CCTV to give myself peace of mind, this man reported me, the police came to me to assess if my CCTV was violating his privacy!!! Criminality begets criminality- in our case this man failed to address his dog’s behavior, Speedy died and he made our lives a nightmare, he has faced zero consequences, he signed an informal agreement with the police which he flouts with impunity and all of this inflates his lawless ego so his behavior escalates- further threatening of women, doing things he may or may not be disqualified from doing and so on and we all know the world in full of men like him.
I honestly cannot bear this any longer, seeing my neighbours so frightened and worried, seeing my own child terrified to walk outside her own front door, begging me to move house so this man won’t hurt us. And I know I am not alone. It turns out that in every local park there is someone like me and someone like him. We have to do better- to educate and to enforce.
But I am one lonely voice in the wind and I can’t do it on my own. I have already stuck my head well and truly above the parapet. Please help me to change things, help me to make them better and help me to make people feel safe.
I look forward to hearing from you. If out of interest you want a fuller picture of what has been going on you can see it all on Justice For Speedy G on Facebook or Instagram.
Kindest regards
Nicola Karunaratne- Diver
Justice for Speedy G 