Brighton pensioner banned from walking her dangerous dog

A woman has been fined more than £4,000 and banned from walking her dog after it launched a horrific attack on a man and his pet.

Pensioner Asiya Sityaeva’s bull mastiff attacked  Gary Murphy and his dog Benny so savagely, he ended up in hospital and the dog needed emergency surgery on a broken jaw

Shocked witnesses reported seeing the small dog shaken like a rag doll and its head being bashed on the pavement, during the incident on December 10.

At Brighton Magistrates Court yesterday Sityaeva, 61, formerly of Broad Street, Kemp Town, and now living at Albany Towers, Albany Villas in Hove, was found guilty of being the owner of a dangerous dog which injured two people and breaching a previous control order. She was ordered to pay fines, costs and compensation totalling £4,439.

Despite an application from Brighton & Hove City Council lawyer Len Batten for a destruction order, magistrates decided to spare the dog, but imposing a suspended destruction order with a lengthy list of conditions. They include:

• Osha must be muzzled at all times when in a public place
• Osha must be held on a standard length lead when in a public place
• Osha must not be walked by Mrs Sityaeva but by a person aged between 18 and 55
• At NO time must Mrs Sityaeva hold Osha’s lead
• Before Mrs Sityaeva gains custody of Osha she must provide details of where he is to be kept and prove to the council that sufficient measures have been taken to prevent Osha leaving the premises
• That when Osha is in the garden of any property he is on a kept on a running lead

Breaching any of these conditions will mean the destruction order comes into force.

Sitaeva was also fined £500 on each of the three charges, ordered to pay £800 compensation to Mr Murphy, pay court costs of £2,124 and £15 victim surcharge.

Mr Batten prosecuting on behalf of Brighton & Hove City Council, told the court that on December 10 Mr Murphy was walking his Benny, a small black and white cross breed, on a lead along Broad Street. Suddenly a large bull mastiff type dog, came charging across the road and started to attack Benny.

Mr Murphy tried to stop the attack along with several witnesses but despite kicking and punching the Mastiff it did not stop.

One of the witnesses, Paul Thorn, said that the dog pinned Benny to the floor and then started shaking it like a rag doll and bashing its head on the pavement.

Ms Sityaeva then came running across the road and tried to protect her dog, Osha.

Benny, who was limp and bleeding, was taken to the vets where he was treated for several bite wounds. Mr Murphy, who was bitten on the hand by the bull mastiff during the attack was treated at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

The police were called and details passed to the council for investigation.

The court head that, despite warrants being issued, two attempts by council animal welfare officers to take the dog into custody had failed. Sityaeva clamed that she had given the dog away to two strangers she met on the seafront.

However in court she admitted that this was a lie and she knew exactly where Osha was being kept.

The court also head that in June this year, magistrates had imposed a control order requiring Osha to be kept under proper control by being muzzled and kept on a lead when outside the house, and that it should also be castrated.

This followed an incident when another dog was attacked and injured.

Councillor Geoffrey Theobald, Cabinet member for Environment said: “I congratulate our animal welfare and legal teams for bringing this matter before the courts.

“It is the duty of all dog owners to ensure that their pets do not present a danger to the public and when, as in this case, an owner shows a blatant disregard for the law, that the council will take legal action.”