Chloe’s crusade to bring owners of vicious dogs to justice

Reporter: Erin Heywood
Date published: 30 April 2013


A BRAVE teenager whose face was ripped apart by a dog has urged the Government to make legal changes to prosecute owners.

Chloe Walker from Shaw has spoken of her long battle to recover from the sickening attack that left her with a fractured cheekbone and badly mauled lips.

The 16 year old was attacked by the dog, a Japanese Akita/Rottweiler cross, at the home of a friend’s relative.

Because the attack happened on private property the police were unable to prosecute the owner for keeping a vicious pet.

She is now urging the Government to vote to change the law, so other victims can get justice.

In the summer of 2011, Chloe, then 15, and a friend went to see the girl’s grandmother, taking the friend’s dog with them.

Chloe said: “When we got to the house I sat on one of the chairs, but my friend and her grandma told me to move because that was the dog’s chair.

“The dog started licking my face, and as I tried to move away it attacked.

“The next thing I knew I was outside the house with blood gushing from my face. My nose and lip were hanging off and I could hardly see.”

She was rushed to the Royal Oldham Hospital then to Wythenshawe where she underwent two operations.

The dog had attacked so aggressively that her tear duct was torn out, her cheekbone fractured, her nose ripped out of place and her lips torn. She needed more than 100 stitches to repair her injuries.

The doctors had to sew my nose back and her lips back together.

“I’ve got a really deep scar on my face. It still hasn’t healed, 18 months later,” she revealed.

Chloe contacted police but the family was shocked to find they were powerless to act: the attack was on private property.

The owners had no insurance and the dog had been put down.

Chloe has been left traumatised, scared to go out in public.

She said: “It’s affected me in so many ways. I’ve become anxious around dogs, dog lovers and people I don’t know.

“Even walking in public with no makeup on is a demanding task.

“My friend and her family blamed me because it was the dog’s chair - but it was a sofa, I didn’t see anything wrong in sitting down.

“The family hasn’t shown any remorse — I still see them near my home and they act like nothing has happened.

“That’s why the Government needs to carry on trying to change the law on this.

“I fully support it, and knowing other people think they should be prosecuted has given me the confidence to speak out.”






What the changes will mean



PROPOSED changes to the law will mean dog owners in England and Wales will no longer be immune from prosecution for an attack on their own property.



Existing laws only cover attacks in public places and prohibited areas.

If the law is changed, owners could face a two-year jail sentence if their animals are found to be “dangerously out of control” in their own or others’ homes.

Following the death of Jade Anderson (14) —mauled by dogs in Wigan in March — more than 2,000 people signed a petition calling for laws “to make dog owners accountable” for attacks on their property.

The Government’s draft proposals would see owners prosecuted if they failed to prevent their animals attacking others in their own home or someone else’s property. But there will be no protection for trespassers.

The Government says it wants the proposals to be introduced as soon as possible.

One option is to include them in the anti-social behaviour bill, published in draft form in December and currently being studied by MPs.