(Hanover) Last week firemen broke down the door of a flat in Germany to find the bodies of a mother and a son who had bled to death after they had been attacked by the family staffordshire terrier . Chico the dog had been bought by the mother eight years ago, shortly
before the early release from prison of her ex-husband, who attacked her with
an axe in 2005. The injuries she sustained meant she had to use a wheelchair
and she had told neighbours she acquired the dog, which was reportedly kept in
a cage in the family flat, out of fear for her life and that of her four
children. In 2011, a social worker arranged for the woman’s son, then
20, who had learning difficulties, to take the dog to a trainer after
recognising that the family was unable to cope with its “permanent aggression”.
The social worker said in a report at the time that she was convinced the dog “had been trained to be a fighting machine”. On the dog trainer’s advice, the veterinary inspection office was due to have ruled on whether the dog would be allowed to stay with the family. But after the owner failed to present the animal to authorities, there appears to have been no follow-up. There was also an inadequate response to neighbours’ frequent complaints about the dog’s continuous barking.
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| Translated using google |
