Between this Breton spaniel and this Argentinian mastiff, who both lived with their respective owners in a building in downtown Lubersac, there had already been a history, in December 2015. This first fight had earned the smaller of the two (the spaniel), a trip to the vet.
“My mastiff shot”
This January 3, 2022, before taking out her pet dog, the owner of the spaniel had therefore checked if the way was clear. For its part, that of the Dogo Argentino, had also taken its precautions. “I kept him on a leash”, she assured, this Tuesday, September 13, before the Brive criminal court. But when the two dogs felt, impossible to restrain their rage to do battle. “We passed each other in the half-open door. My mastiff pulled, the strap slipped from my hands”, regrets the one who had to answer, of “involuntary injuries by recklessness or negligence”, and “involuntary attack on the life of a domestic animal”.
In the lobby of the building, this 37-year-old woman will go so far as to put her hand in her dog’s mouth, to force him to unclench his fangs from the spaniel’s neck. She will come out with injuries to her hands.
Brain hematoma and bites
For his 56-year-old neighbor, it’s a different story. In addition to two bites on the calf, she suffered a cerebral hematoma, probably due to stress. She was only released from hospital last May. “I am disabled on the left side, I can no longer do everyday things like cutting my meat,” says the victim. According to her, the mastiff had no leash at the time of the attack. “What is certain is that the life of this woman will no longer be as before”, underlined her lawyer Me Marie Mantopoulos.
For the Crown, the question of the leash is almost secondary in terms of characterizing the facts. “Even with a leash, she did not know how to hold him back and this constitutes a clumsiness at the origin of the attack”, defends the representative of the prosecution.
The six dogs placed in a kennel after the attack on a 71-year-old woman, seriously injured in Lamazière-Basse (2020))
A marked clumsiness
The latter requested the confiscation of the animal, in addition to a fine of 120 day-fines of 10 euros. “Be careful not to confuse civil and criminal liability, reminded Me Chastanet for the defendant. Civilly, it is undeniable that she is responsible. But in criminal cases, the law requires leashing only for category 1 and 2 dogs, not category 3 dogs like this Dogo Argentino. Unless the mayor has issued a municipal decree to this effect. But there is no such document in the file, ”said the lawyer, who pleaded for release, reminding the judge of the cases of assaults on walkers by patous, in pastoral areas.
The court reserved its decision. This will be delivered on September 27. The defendant had only one request. “Don’t take my dog away from me.”
Pierre Vignaud
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