Dog sentenced to death after attacking teenage girl wins reprieve

A dog which was sentenced to death after attacking a teenage girl has been saved and is back with his owners.

Magistrates ruled that Kye, a Japanese Akita, should be put down, after he bit a girl on the face and hand in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

In August, Kye's owner Sharon Fletcher, pleaded guilty at North Staffordshire Justice Centre to owning a dog which was dangerously out of control and caused an injury.

But she appealed against the sentence and now a judge has ruled Kye should be saved and returned to Miss Fletcher, who had also initially been banned from having a dog for five years.

Speaking after the judgement, an emotional Miss Fletcher said:

Kye was tethered in the garden of Miss Fletcher's home, while she attended a barbecue at a neighbour's house.

A teenage girl later went into the garden, while it was dark, and was bitten on the face and hand as she went to stroke the dog.

Kye, who is deaf, was removed from the family home immediately after the incident.

The judge who over ruled the original decision said:

"It is important that this was not an uncontrolled dog, it was not a prohibited dog or a dog trained to be aggressive.

Precautions had been taken to reduce any potential risk the dog would cause. There's no suggestion the dog had attacked people before - it seems this was an isolated incident.

We do not think there is any evidence that Miss Fletcher is anything other than a fit and proper person to keep dogs and, after having heard the evidence of expert witnesses, we are satisfied the dog does not constitute a danger to public safety."

Miss Fletcher must still keep Kye in the rear of her garden, make sure he is muzzled in public and when visitors are at the house, and have him neutered.