The owner of a dog which injured a small child in Stackpole has been ordered to keep her pet under control.
Fifty-two-year-old Judith Sellwood, of Cilcain, Flintshire, appeared at Haverfordwest magistrates court, on Tuesday, charged with not keeping her dog Taz, a cross between a Labrador and Spaniel, under proper control.
Prosecutor Vaughan Pritchard-Jones told the court that the incident occurred at the tearooms in Stackpole, on August 24, when the complainant, his wife and their two children were buying an ice cream at the premises.
“The family had gone into the cafe when they walked by the table and for some unknown reason, the dog leapt towards the three-year-old daughter.
“It didn’t bite the girl, but made contact with her head, causing three specific injuries, that thankfully were minor,” he explained.
Magistrates were shown a photograph of the victim and told that she had a thick lip, a small mark on her cheek bone, and a small cut on the inside of her mouth, due to the dog bumping her head.
“The defendant was spoken to by police and accepts that the dog was hers. The only explanation that she could give was that there were lots of wasps in the caf´ that day, and that her dog might have jumped forward towards one of them and hit the girl by mistake,” added Mr. Pritchard-Jones.
Defence solicitor Mike Kelleher reiterated to magistrates that the area outside the tea rooms that day was full of wasps, and that the “exuberant” dog may have inadvertently jumped at the child’s head.
Mr. Kelleher said that Taz was a family dog and that he had been provided with lots of character references to confirm his good nature.
“It just so happens that there was a facial surgeon in the café at the time and they could immediately identify that the girl had not been bitten by the dog, and that her injuries would be fine,” he said.
Magistrates made an order to Miss Selwood that the dog be kept under proper control or there would be a risk that it could be destroyed.
The defendant was ordered to pay prosecution costs of £85.