A dog owner who let his pet savagely attack and injure a toddler has been locked up for 100 days.
Teenager Lennon McKay was also banned from having dogs for five years after allowing his Doberman to leave the two-year-old boy needing 13 facial stitches.
The 19-year-old was convicted of being in charge of a dog which was dangerously out of control and attacked the child in Dundee on 25 February 2023.
Solicitor Jim Laverty, defending, told Dundee Sheriff Court that McKay was ‘still a very young man’ and had been left in charge of the dog by other people.
The two-year-old boy’s mother told the court there was ‘blood everywhere’ after the horrific attack at an address in the Fintry area of the city.
McKay, who admitted owning the dog called Kera, tried to incriminate another man, claiming he had brought the dog to the address.
The court heard claims McKay was not there during the incident but a sheriff showed no hesitation in finding the teenager guilty.
The child suffered five different wounds to his face in the attack, including a wound to his left eye which was described as ‘gaping’.
Teenager Lennon McKay was also banned from having dogs for five years after allowing his Doberman to leave the two-year-old boy needing 13 facial stitches (file image)
Sheriff Paul Brown said: ‘I consider this to be quite a serious matter.
‘You have taken a dog into the company of a small, defenceless child and the injuries are very serious indeed and could have been a lot more serious.’
The boy’s mother told the court: ‘I was in the kitchen, my son was in the living room, the dog was going up and down the hallway.
‘When I heard him scream, I ran through and saw it was on top of him in the living room. I grabbed him and there was just blood everywhere.
‘Lennon pulled the dog away and just left. I was screaming for help outside.’
She said she given a different account of the incident to the police and staff at Ninewells Hospital, after allegedly being threatened by McKay not to report what happened.
The court was told by the dog’s former owner that Kera was ‘very strong and mature’ and had been known to kill deer, rabbits and cats previously.
The dog was described as requiring a muzzle and a lead around new people due to being used as a guard dog. Kera has since died after spending a period of time in kennels.
Solicitor Jim Laverty, defending, told Dundee Sheriff Court (pictured) that McKay was ‘still a very young man’ and had been left in charge of the dog by other people
When giving evidence, McKay claimed he was never at the address and he had given the dog to the man he tried to incriminate because he could not cope with it.
McKay, of Liff Terrace, later returned the dog to its original owner but did not inform him of the child being attacked.
The court was told the child was treated with antibiotics after having 13 stitches inserted in his facial wounds at Ninewells Hospital.
