A man has admitted owning a dangerous Staffordshire Bull Terrier dog which bit two police officers who were breaking up an illegal Covid house party in Aberdeen.
Kevin McDonald owned the dog, Bella, when she attacked and sunk her teeth into two officers responding to a reported gathering at the height of the coronavirus lockdown.
A number of police units had attended the address in Dyce to break-up the suspected party, but left the “chaotic scene” with puncture wounds from Bella’s bite.
McDonald, 42, has since sold Bella, but the dog now faces a tense wait while a report is prepared to help a sheriff decide whether or not she should be destroyed.
Fiscal depute Claire Stewart told Aberdeen Sheriff Court the incident happened around 11.30pm on April 3 2021.
Dogs were in ‘agitated state’
She said: “Police attended the locus over reports of a gathering within.”
A number of units, including dog handlers, arrived and were met by McDonald who opened the door.
On entering the address, officers noted two Staffordshire Bull Terriers in an “agitated state” running through the hallway.
One of the dogs, Bella, bit a male officer on his upper left hamstring.
McDonald was then taken outside and restrained, but Bella managed to bite another officer on his left calf.
That officer suffered two puncture wounds and a tear to his left calf muscle, while the first constable also sustained two puncture wounds.
The officers both had their wounds cleaned but did not require stitches.
Ms Stewart said the Crown was awaiting a report the dog warden in relation to whether or not the animal should be put down.
McDonald, of Sluie Drive, Aberdeen, pled guilty to being the owner or in charge of a dog dangerously out of control in that it bit two officers to their injury and permanent disfigurement.
Defence agent Debbie Ginniver said the witness statements in the case “portray a much more chaotic scene”.
She told the court her client had since sold the dog and had “no interest in the dog moving forward”.
Ms Ginniver added that a court-ordered social work report on McDonald was “relatively positive”.
Sheriff Lesley Johnston deferred sentence until next month for the report on the dog to be completed.
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