The man whose Great Dane and bull mastiff dogs mauled an 81-year-old woman as she was walking through Brighton Crescent, St Michael, earlier this year, was fined when he reappeared in the District “A” Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
But it’s up in the air whether Christopher Maurice Straker will get back the two dogs, which were confiscated by the Animal Control Unit in January.
The court heard that January was not the first time the Animal Control Unit had been called for and had confiscated the dogs. Officers from the unit had done so once before.
Yesterday, the 45-year-old contractor of No. 18, Brighton Crescent, St Michael, changed his plea and confessed to two counts on the charge, under the Dog (Licensing And Control) Act, that on January 19 he unlawfully permitted the dogs to be in a public place, Brighton Road, when they were not on a leash or a lead.
Magistrate Douglas Frederick, who said he took into consideration the man’s early guilty pleas and that it was his first offence, fined Straker $200 forthwith for each dog or seven days in prison. The fines were paid.
The maximum fine under the act was $250 or three months for each dog.
Straker then inquired if he could have his dogs returned but Magistrate Frederick explained that was not in his purview and he would have to make a request to the Animal Control Unit.
Prosecutor Sergeant Edwin Pinder, who outlined the evidence, said 81-year-old Enid Small, a Barbadian-Canadian who was on one of her many visits to the island, left her Brighton Crescent home in January to go for a walk. On her way back home, an hour later, she saw two dogs, which ran at her. (HLE)
