‘It latched onto his arm’: Dog bite brings man to his knees in pain

Spencer the American pitbull cross terrier, attacked a pedestrian on the Grantham St boat ramp in central Hamilton on December 4 last year. Image / Google Maps

A man was brought to his knees in pain after an unleashed, menacing dog jumped up and attacked him while he was trying to protect his partner.

The man had put himself between Spencer, an American pitbull terrier cross, and his partner to try to protect her when the attack happened.

Spencer’s owner Jessica Chase was in the Hamilton District Court on Monday for sentencing on two charges under the Dog Control Act, the most serious being the owner of a dog that attacked a person on Grantham St boat ramp, causing serious injury last year.

The grandmother-of-two was walking three dogs on December 4. Spencer, due to his classification as a menacing dog, was meant to be wearing a muzzle.

He wasn’t.

The dog approached the victim’s right side and tried to bite him. At the same time, the man got between Spencer and his partner, which gave her time to back away.

The court heard the man then realised he was in a “very dangerous situation” but remained there to protect his partner.

He was distracted by one of the other dogs when Spencer jumped up and latched onto his arm, bringing him to his knees.

With Spencer’s teeth still gripping his arm, the man tried to divide his attention between all of the dogs. He eventually managed to grab Spencer by the scruff of his neck and pulled him off his arm.

The other two dogs then backed away.

Spencer approached him again but didn’t get as close. At that point, Chase got the dogs together and put them in her vehicle.

Her counsel Amin Osama said Chase was genuinely remorseful and upset that a restorative justice conference with the victim didn’t go ahead.

“She really wanted to apologise.

“When she speaks of this event she speaks of remembering the guilt that’s associated with it.”

Osama suggested a sentence of around 200 hours of community work, which was similar to Hamilton City Council’s recommendation of 200 to 300 hours.

“The only thing we disagree on is whether costs should be ordered.”

Spencer had already been put down and Chase had also offered to pay $1000 in emotional harm reparation, a figure Judge Brett Crowley described as “very generous”.

Agreeing to put Spencer down was also a “significant matter” as Judge Crowley noted cases like this usually involved “notoriously high emotion” as most people refused to take such action and then went on to fight an order for destruction.

“To me, that really speaks to her remorse that she feels bad about what happened, and she doesn’t want any risk that it might happen again.”

Asked by Judge Crowley if doing community work would impact Chase’s ability to care for her mokopuna, Osama replied that his client had Saturdays free.

In handing down her sentence, Judge Crowley told Chase she had “responded in a very responsible way”.

“Your lawyer suggests community work as you have a day free a week.

“You have raised four children of your own and are now helping raise two of your grandchildren.

“Your act was irresponsible on the day, that’s the right word to use, but I must say I’m impressed with your response to it.

“While you have one day a week free your sentence of community work should not be too long as I‘m sure there are other things you can probably do on your one day off a week.”

He ordered she complete 100 hours of community work and pay $750 in emotional harm reparation along with $250 towards costs.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for eight years and been a journalist for 19.