Adobe StockA young boy has been left scarred for life after his neighbour’s dog attacked him in the street.
The five-year-old had his leg chewed by neighbour Anthony Collins’ dog outside their homes in Glasgow’s Cardonald on May 31, 2023.
A court heard Collins ignored a dog trainer’s advice for Chopper not to be left alone in his garden.
The rescue mongrel dog from Lebanon escaped after Collins did not close his gate.
The little boy was out on the street looking for a toy when the dog attacked him.
Dangerously out of control
Collins was found guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court of being in charge of a dog which was dangerously out of control to the boy’s severe injury.
The court heard from the boy’s 39-year-old mother, who said she became aware the boy had left their home that evening.
She said: “He lost his toy which he bought the day before and I told him to go and look for it – I told him to go across the road.”
Prosecutor Katie Malcolm asked the witness for the next thing that she could remember.
She replied: “I heard a terrifying scream from outside – that’s when I realised my son was outside. I ran outside.
“The screaming was so terrifying that I didn’t recognise that it was my child.”
The woman stated that she came across her son who was crying and had a graze to his left leg.
She stated that a neighbour informed her that her son had been attacked by a dog.
The woman was later visited by Collins – whom she learned was her new neighbour.
She stated that Collins apologised for his dog biting her son.
The woman said that she was “shaking and crying” during their “short conversation”.
The court heard that the boy was taken to hospital but was not kept in overnight.
She said: “He was required to have a dressing put on the wound.”
The woman added that the wound became infected a week later.
She said: “There was a scar – he wouldn’t let me touch it.”
Ms Malcolm asked the woman how her son felt after the incident and she said: “He is scared of dogs.
“He is scared to walk by the neighbour’s house and he is scared to go out, go to the park and go cycling which is something he used to love doing.
“He is scared to do anything now – he is scared of everyone.”
The trial heard that Collins’ friend was in his home when he and his partner went out.
His partner told the court that Collins was informed by a trainer not to leave the dog alone in his garden.
She claimed that the garden gate was not closed before they left.
She said: “I told him to close the gate as Chopper was not ready to be in the garden by himself.”
The trial heard that ten minutes after they left, Collins received a phone call about the incident with the boy.
Sentencing was deferred pending background reports until next month.
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