06 March 2024 , 12:47
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A pair of workmen have described how they were unable to overpower an XL Bully dog as it savaged a smaller terrier to death in the street.
One of them hit the dog owned by Bryan Laird several times with a wooden fencing pole, while the other grabbed its mouth and tried to unclamp its grip on the mixed breed Spanish terrier, Perth's Justice of the Peace Court heard. They added that the street was left covered in blood after the attack on little Bonnie just weeks after its owners moved into a new housing estate.
Ryan McIntosh, 42, said: "It was like a commotion, there was shouting. We saw it was the dogs. One dog was attacking another dog. The dog that was attacked - I had got to know the people on the site - so I knew the little dog. The owner of the dog was totally devastated because it wouldn't let go. I tried to hit it with a fence post. I tried to smack it but the stick was just bouncing off it. Ryan [Carr] was trying to get his mouth off but we couldn't do anything."
Colleague Ryan Carr, 26, told the trial: "We were at the other side of the road working in a back garden. There was a lot of screaming and dogs barking."We had to go round to see what happened. There was a crowd of people. The two dogs were in the middle of it and people were trying to separate the dogs.
Workman Ryan Carr tried to help"The little dog was one of the couple's who had moved into the street. I didn't see where the [XL Bully] came from, but it had the little dog in its mouth. I had blood on my hands from trying to separate the dogs, so I went straight to the site toilet to wash my hands, and didn't see what happened after that."
Girl, 4, mauled to death in dog attack pictured as neighbours hear mum's screams
Scotia Homes site manager Steven Milne, 47, said: "There were a couple of show homes, but the majority of the houses were occupied. I got a phone call from the guys on site. A couple of guys on the site were still there. A couple of other dog owners, neighbours, were asking about cleaning up the road because there was quite a lot of blood on the road."
He said he knew Laird as a former contractor and recognised him because of his distinctive tattoos, but had not seen him at the scene of the mauling. Laird, 31, from Dundee, denied that on 20 February 2023 in Blairgowrie, Perthshire, allowed his dog to carry out a fatal attack on Bonnie.
He denied letting the dog cause danger or injury to the terrier, or giving reasonable cause for alarm or annoyance to Steven Thomson and Michael Thomson in respect that his XL Bully seized Bonnie by the body with its mouth, compress her body and refuse to release her whereby she died from her injuries.
Solicitor Ross Donnelly, for Laird, made a no case to answer submission and said the Crown had failed to provide evidence of any violent background or how the incident began. "No evidence has been led of Mr Laird causing or permitting this to happen," he said. "No evidence has been led to how this came about or how the dog ended up in the street with the other dog."
JP Allan Robertson upheld the submission and Laird was found not guilty.