Owner admits dog 'doesn't really like people'

Billie-May Graham. Photo / Janna Dixon

The owner of a bull terrier dog that put a man in hospital admits it is another example of poor dog ownership.

Billie-May Graham, 19, pleaded guilty in the Waitakere District Court this week to owning a dog that attacked a male causing serious injury.

She told the Herald on Sunday that she had been a 16-year-old living on her own who needed protection. So she bought a cute bull terrier cross puppy and called him Munter.

But after being chained to a tree on a regular basis for nine months and trained to "attack on command", the cuteness escalated into aggression.

Graham was in the shower in March last year when her friend let Munter off his leash. He escaped the property and ferociously latched on to the leg of a man who was walking past their Glen Eden home carrying a large black stick.

"He's usually chained up to the tree but my mate let him off and someone went past so he ran after them. My dog doesn't really like people," Graham said.

She didn't see the victim but was given photos of his injuries - including one which showed "heaps of stitches in his leg".

Munter was seized by the Auckland City Council and destroyed.

But that weekend Graham claimed she was put in hospital herself after being bashed at a party. "If my dog was there it probably wouldn't have happened," she said. "He was a lovely natured dog but he would attack on command, he was very protective."

Graham will be sentenced in the Waitakere District Court in June.