Owner of XL bullies in court over attack

The dog attack happened in Handsworth Road, Sheffield, in December 2023

A man has admitted owning two dangerously out of control XL bullies that attacked and injured a walker and his dog in Sheffield.

Sheffield Magistrates' Court heard the XL bullies, called Cookie and Saga, had escaped from Macaulay Harrison's home before the attack in Handsworth Road on 3 December.

Magistrates were told the dogs caused neck injuries to a collie while its owner suffered injuries to his hand when he tried to separate the animals.

Harrison, 28, of New Cross Walk, Sheffield, was handed a 12-month community order and ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid work and pay £500 in compensation.

The court heard police had to destroy Cookie and Saga due to safety concerns in relation to the emergency services and the wider public.

The collie, named Oscar, required emergency vet treatment with bills totalling £4,677, prosecutor Lizzie Payne said.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Oscar's owner said he felt distressed about the incident and could not "get the image of the two dogs attacking Oscar out of my head".

Erika Hradecka, for Harrison, said three XL bullies had managed to escape after Harrison's children accidentally left the door open.

The court heard two of the dogs attacked Oscar, while the third dog was not involved and later returned to Harrison's partner, who owns it.

Ms Hradecka told magistrates Harrison had rescued Saga from an abusive owner when the dog was seven months old and adopted Cookie when the dog was seven weeks old.

"He says both dogs were very friendly, even when other people came to the house," Ms Hradecka told the court.

"He can't pinpoint what happened on the day."

She said the loss of his two dogs had affected Harrison's sleep and weight and added that he was "very remorseful".

"This couldn’t be prevented, this couldn’t be foreseen," she said.

"It was a one-off incident, they were family dogs, loved dogs by the whole family."

However, sentencing Harrison, magistrates told him: "You are ultimately responsible for the safekeeping of the dogs and on this occasion you failed."

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