A pensioner was ‘ripped to shreds’ by two Rottweilers in a random attack and had to have an arm and leg amputated, a court has heard.
Vic Franklin, 78, was ‘covered with blood’ and left with ‘life threatening injuries’ after the 11-minute attack by the large dogs – Ziggy, four, and Daisy, one.
If it hadn’t been for the help of a neighbour who tried to bat the dogs away with a spirit level, the retired security guard would have died in the ambush, the court heard.
Today, owners Matthew Roberts, 30, and Chloe Taylor, 27, appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court, Hampshire, where it was heard the aggressive pets were not given ‘enough to do’ which meant they were often ‘bored’.
Neighbours reported that Ziggy and Daisy – who lived outside in the garden – were often spotted ‘roaming around’ and ‘showing their teeth’ at by-passers, the court heard.
The couple will be sentenced later this month for the offence, which saw Mr Franklin’s life ‘turned upside down’.
The pensioner was attacked on August 18 last year near his home in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, while walking his Spaniel, Peggy.
Prosecutor Ellie Fargin told the court that a couple who lived nearby overheard ‘dogs barking’ and ‘shouting’ outside their home.
James Jones’s wife shouted ‘there’s a man being attacked by a dog’ which prompted him to grab a long spirit level and go outside.
When he went arrived at the scene, he saw Peggy ‘shaking’ while Mr Franklin was being mauled by the two Rottweilers, whose faces were ‘covered in blood’.
The neighbour said Ziggy was ‘chewing something that looked like skin’ and said it was the most ‘unpleasant and unnerving site he has seen’.
‘The police attended and got there as fast as they could,’ Ms Fargin said.
‘They described seeing Mr Franklin in the floor with what they said was serious injuries.
‘[They said] it looked like he had been ripped to shreds. He was covered in blood and not moving.’
The prosecutor said ‘shots were fired’ at the two dogs which prompted one to run off. They have now both been destroyed.
She told the court that Mr Franklin was taken to hospital and his injuries were both ‘extensive and very severe’, resulting in him requiring emergency resuscitation.
‘The results of the combination of all these injuries and life threatening condition is that he had to have amputations,’ the prosecutor said.
‘One to his left leg above the knee and one to his right arm below his elbow.’
The court heard there had been ‘reports’ made by members of the public about the ‘behaviour’ of two Rottweilers.
The prosecutor said the ‘culmination’ of these was that they had been ‘left roaming free’, ‘they had been showing their teeth’, and they had ‘concerns about the welfare of them as they were living outside’.
Ms Fargin said that both a dog charity and the district council tried to intervene but were unsuccessful.
It was heard the council made contact three times following complaints from neighbours.
The prosecutor said the couple had ‘failed in their obligation effectively to look after the welfare of these dogs’.
An expert found that the dogs did not have ‘enough to do’ to ensure they they were not ‘bored’ and were not given toys to occupy them.
The owners also ‘failed to give them veterinary care’ and the dogs had shown ‘some aggression’ in the past.
‘The way that they were cared for by these two defendants did not assist in their nourishment or upbringing,’ the prosecutor said.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Franklin said that his life was ‘turned upside down’ as a result of the attacks.
He said he left the house in the morning of the day of the attack to take his beloved pet Peggy for a walk.
‘Little did I know that when I set off on that walk that my whole world would be ripped apart,’ he said.
The pensioner said he was a healthy and active person until he was ‘brutally attacked’ by the two dogs – and had ‘no way to protect myself’.
‘That day my life was changed forever,’ he said.
‘I had to see the pain and anguish on the faces of my family when I was hospital when non one knew whether I was going to live.
‘I now have to rely on other people to assist me. I cannot write anymore or hold a book or a magazine to ready.
‘I am a dog lover and I actually felt sad when I heard the dogs had been put down.
‘I do not believe that any dog that has been raised in a loving and caring environment would have done what they had done to me.’
Mr Franklin said before the attack he was caring for his sick wife – who now has to care for him.
Jeffrey Lamb, mitigating, said Mr Roberts was away working in Leicester on the day of the attack while Ms Taylor was in hospital.
‘These two dogs, Daisy and Ziggy, were very well looked after – it’s disputed by both that there were issues pertaining to the dogs,’ he said.
It was heard that Mr Roberts had taken the dogs for a walk the day before he left for Leicester and had ‘played no part in looking after the dogs’.
They denied receiving any ‘official warnings’ from the council and maintained that the dogs were looked after.
They pleaded guilty to a charge of being the owner or person in charge of a dog dangerously out of control and causing injury and will be sentenced on December 17.
Today’s sentencing hearing was adjourned so that the judge could gather more information relating to warnings from neighbours.