A 47-year-old Enniskillen woman has been fined £400, has been given a 12 month conditional charge and has been told that one of her dogs must be destroyed after it attacked and bit a nun in Enniskillen.
Resident Magistrate Liam McNally, at a recent sitting of Fermanagh Magistrates Court, heard how on Friday, 13th April, this year Sister Christine Blake of the Convent of Mercy in Enniskillen was in the local Breandrum Cemetery when she was approached by three dogs, including a Yorkshire terrier, a Husky and a German Shepherd cross bred animal, the latter of whom, bit her on the thigh.
Aubrey Murray, prosecuting for Fermanagh District Council, explained that the animals belonged to the defendant, Anne McCusker who lived nearby, at Breandrum Court. She had admitted that the three dogs were hers and that she was aware of what had happened to the defendant.
Mr Murray said that she came before the court charged with allowing her dogs to stray and for being the keeper of dogs that attacked the injured party, a lady who had gone to a cemetery. She had been attacked by the dogs, one of which had bitten her. Another was jumping up at her and tore her T-shirt.
Mr Murray said that Fermanagh Council was taking a neutral attitude in how the dogs were dealt with in the case.
The RM, Mr McNally explained how the legislation required exceptional mitigating circumstances in deciding whether or not the dogs would be destroyed and in considering their danger to the public.
Sean McHugh, defending the keeper of the dogs, McCusker, said that his client was aware of how traumatic the incident had been for the injured party and she had asked that her apologies were conveyed publicly.
"The dogs had been chained up prior to the incident," he explained, "and she was hoping to give them some exercise. They had heard a noise in the nearby graveyard and the terrier reacted, initiating events by going out, and the other two dogs followed immediately."
The whole occurrence, he said had taken place in a short period of time. The defendant called them back, and the dogs came back, and it was then that she noticed the lady.
Mr McHugh submitted that his client had co-operated fully with the dog warden, and she didn't want to minimise what had happened.
However, since the event, she had taken steps to have the rear of her property closed in by what was the equivalent to an electric fence, which was installed in May this year. The dogs, he said, had had a 'taste' of the fence and, as a result, wouldn't be going back into the graveyard. The animals, he added, were also monitored very closely.
He told the Court that his client apologised humbly for the attack and he described her as a dog lover who had kept dogs all her life and maintained them well. She was a 47-year-old, part-time shop assistant with three dependant children under the age of 18. She had no previous record and was concerned for the wellbeing of the injured party. He submitted that, prior to the present incident, they had never injured members of the public before.
Addressing McCusker, Mr McNally said that she faced two charges, one of having allowed her dogs to stray into a cemetery in Enniskillen, and the other being the keeper of dogs that attacked a person. He said he had read a statement from the injured party and there was no doubt in his mind that it was a terrifying experience. She had gone into a cemetery and one dog had jumped on her back and started pulling at her clothes and one jumped up and bit her on the thigh. She was a person on her own in a helpless situation and was attacked.
He said he accepted McCusker's clear record and early plea, and that she had co-operated with the authorities. However, he said he could find no exceptional mitigating circumstances not to make an order for the dogs to be destroyed.
For allowing the dogs to stray, he imposed a 12 month conditional discharge. He further imposed a £400 fine for the attacks and made a destruction order in relation to the German Shepherd dog.
Bail was fixed for McCusker to appeal the destruction order.
