Boxer dog which bit mother to be spared

A dog which bit a mother as she walked down the street with her two-year-old child has been spared from being destroyed.

The boxer dog named Bruno was on a lead and harness when it jumped up at passer-by Sarah Hignett as she walked along Birchfield Way in Yew Tree, near to the border of Walsall and West Bromwich, with her partner and their young child in a pushchair.

The dog sank its teeth into her arm, puncturing the skin and causing bruising and has left a small permanent scar on the 35-year-old victim, a court heard.

Bruno's owner Jenny Grigg, of Bramley Road in Walsall, had been due to stand trial for having a dog which was dangerously out of control, but pleaded guilty to the charge when she appeared before magistrates in West Bromwich.

Grigg, aged 30, had been walking the white and tan brown dog, a family pet of eight years, along Birchfield Way when it attacked the passer-by at around 4.20pm on November 8 last year, the court was told.

Miss Val Hart, prosecuting, said the defendant was walking the dog on a lead when she passed the family.

"As Sarah Hignett walked past it jumped up and sank its teeth into her arm between her elbow and shoulder, causing a puncture wound and extensive bruising to the arm which has left a small scar," she said.

She said the victim had to receive treatment at Sandwell Hospital and from her GP but did not want the dog to be destroyed. Magistrates heard it was the first time Bruno had been involved in such an incident.

Sentencing, chairman of the bench Mrs Diane Wills said: "We take into consideration the fact that this was a single, nasty bite.

"Also this may have caused emotional trauma. However, the dog was on a lead and harness. The dog has been a family pet for eight years and never displayed aggression previously. We are satisfied that it is not a danger to the public."

Magistrates ordered Grigg to pay £250 in compensation and £200 towards court costs.