A neighbour of a dog which bit a nine-year-old girl in a Brighton pub says he was also attacked by the 11 stone hound this week.
The 65-year-old man was walking past the house in Warmdene Road where the caucasian shepherd called Hector lives when the dog bashed through gates and bit him and one of his two spaniels.
Yesterday, Matthew Reah admitted being in control of a dangerously out of control dog after Hector bit the girl during a coronation party at the Long Man of Wilmington Pub in May.
The case was adjourned until October for a hearing to decide if Hector should be destroyed. Police are now investigating the latest incident.
The man, who has asked not to be named, said the dog is kept in the garden of Mr Reah’s elderly mother, where it regularly barks at passers by and flings itself against the wooden gates.
He said: “It will jump up at the wall and bark and go absolutely beserk. Everyone in the street walks on the other side of the road now. Even the school is aware of it.
“On Monday morning, I was walking along. The dog jumped up and saw me, and it ran towards the gates and flung himself against them, and got out.
“The dog looked at me and then he bit me, and then bit my dog on the back.
“The old lady came out and said somebody has unlocked my gate. A woman was passing in her car and saw the whole incident. She got out of her car and was laying into the old lady.
“Since this has happened, I’m not walking my dogs around the block. If the dog gets out again, I might not be so lucky next time.
“This dog is a killer. These dogs are bred to kill wolves and protect sheep. Its mouth is bigger than a lion’s.
“It’s bitten this little girl, it’s bitten me. I have a neighbour across the road whose dog has been bitten.
“I’m a dog lover and I don’t want to be the person who gets this dog destroyed.
“No one would want their dog to be put to sleep but it needs to be rehomed in a proper environment where someone can look after it.”
A police spokesman said: “On Monday (11 July), police received a report of a dog having bitten two dogs and injured a man who was walking them in Warmdene Road, Brighton.
“The dog is understood to have got loose from the garden of its home address.
“Enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances of what happened, including attempts to speak to the victim and owner of the aggressor dog.”
The nine-year-old girl was bitten by Hector on 7 May, leaving her with puncture wounds to her lip and chin. A family member who posted on Facebook the following day said she lost teeth and had to have facial surgery.
I can’t understand this?
Every time I have met Hector with my dog he has been nothing but a gentleman giant – calm, completely non-aggressive, loves tickles and loves our dog!
Reading about these incidents, it’s as though it is another dog that is being described??
Any dog has the ability to “turn” if it is being antagonised…… I am not suggesting that this is the case here, but dogs can also detect fear and this can sometimes be interpreted as aggression by an animal.
I have often seen people with dogs become fearful when their dogs are around other dogs, and this immediately puts their own dogs on edge. Dogs are very instinctive animals and will always act protectively towards their masters.
Not sure what I am trying to say here?! I’m just so shocked and saddened by what I have just read and am genuinely fearful for the outcome of poor Hector! 🙁
Owners who are scared of dogs may cause a problem. I have such an owner in my village. insists on walking her spaniels on the road past my cottage, but they stands terrified as my 2 dogs, secured behind locked gates, bark.
So this morning, she walked up the road from the village, then stood about 10 yards away on the verge. Just stood.I haven’t a clue what she thought she was doing because it bothered my dogs too. In the end she saw me watching her just standing. Turns out she was videoing my dogs. She walked up to the cottage and complained that her dog was too scared to walk up the road. I replied “we’ve had this conversation before haven’t we?” All of her dogs are scared, because *she* is scared. Then she literally ran back toward the village shouting “he’s getting out, he’s coming over the gates”.
Of course, he wasn’t, because he can’t, get out. But she has caused her poor dog such stress with her fear. I have a feeling she expects me to shut my dogs in the house in order that she can walk her dog past. I’m not going to. They are entitled to bark as loudly as they want behind the padlocked gates.
He behaviour causes the fear in her own dogs and my dogs sense it too, plus skulking in the hedge motionless while videoing, is going to make them concerned.
The number of dog attacks recorded by police in England and Wales has risen by more than a third in the past five years, Last year, there were nearly 22,000 cases of out-of-control dogs causing injury.
In 2018, there were just over 16,000.
The number of dog attacks being reported has increased, not necessarily the number of dog attacks.
Unfortunately since COVID many things have changed in this world, one of the most upsetting is the downward spiral in people’s attitudes. I’m not saying that this is the case here, but I’m just advising that there are various opportunities for interpreting data in different ways.
An animal this dangerous has no place in an urban area, outside of a zoo.
Oh please 🙄 he a old gentleman we get grumpy the dog should not be put down
I rather resent the implication that Hector senses peoples fear or is provoked into attacking other dogs. I agree he is often docile and appears calm, but he suddenly lurches at other (usually male) dogs with no warning growl or even the slightest provocation. He’s done it to my dog three times and I’ve witnessed multiple other attacks. Hectors sheer power and ferocity is horrifying. Sometimes he manages to pin dogs by the throat and his owner has to literally drag him off. The owner then often swears or rants at the other owner blaming their dogs for causing Hector to attack! The sheer number of people complaining shows these incidents are frequent and upsetting for the whole community . I think perhaps the owners aggression is rubbing off on Hector, not everyone else’s fear causing him to attack.
Half the problem is that people get dogs they are ill equipped to be able to manage and have little experience in. The Caucasian shepherd, like the Kangal, Spanish Mastiff, Tibetan Mastiff and a few others and not suburban dogs and have inbred dislike of strange dogs. One of mine is a Spanish mastiff cross and strange dog aggressive. If a breed’s role is living up a mountain, away from humans, guarding a flock of sheep and their own family, and killing wolves the instant they appear, then they will have the mindset that the owner and the home must be protected and strange dog coming near to the boundary are to be repelled.
They are not suited to live in a built up area with lots of humans and dogs around.
I wonder what on earth made him get this particular breed given that it’s completely unsuited to the environment it lives in.
Hector is clearly not being taken care of. Being left in the garden and becoming stressed. He also looks in very poor condition with a very dull coat.It is possible the dog is ill or in pain. Or needs water or food . He needs some loving care !
I’d probably not make disingenuous comments about an animal if I don’t really know what I was talking about, Marge.
This is not the breed for everyone, indeed very few homes here in the UK will be either suitable or capable of owning a full grown Caucasian Shepherd. This is not a dog for suburbia, they need rural homes with either a very large secure garden or preferably, securely fenced land. They will dismantle wooden fencing with their teeth or simply smash through it, if in guard mode.
These dogs have a very powerful urge to defend and if the dog has not been properly socialised and trained as a youngster, it may prove to have very ferocious tendencies which for most pet owners will be unmanageable.
It’s fair to comment that this dog isn’t in a suitable environment, at all.
One of the problems in this case and many others is that Hector’s breed is not on the dangerous dogs list that the police go by. Any dog can be dangerous in certain circumstances so the list acts as handcuffs on the police and how they react to an attack. This dog should have been removed to a more capable owner who could have trained it better earlier. He’s unpredictability and size would make anyone fearful which makes him unsuitable to live where he is.
Dogs are at our mercy… It is the owner who should be punished… Tbe dog should be rehomed not killed…. At least in the interim have him muzzled and if hes not castrated castrate him… It is a human failure of care… It is not the dogs fault. The dog has no choice but to live in the conditions set by humans… Shame on us all if we murder him… Its not rocket science.. Hes an alpha male guard dog and has probably been encouraged in this role by aggressive human owners… If you are a male dog and you are on what he thinks is his territory you might get it… Plus any unpredictable movements or extreme fear and you will also trigger him…. Human males also have these behaviour traits… ie. to pick on someone weaker than them. It is a human failure of care of Hector.. The community should seek to rehome the owners and then maybe they might realise their responsibility….