A Kirriemuir pair whose “dangerously out of control” pets attacked two people have been banned from keeping dogs.
John and Elaine Towns appeared back at Forfar Sheriff Court after incidents involving their dogs Keira and Chino.
John Towns is already subject to a ten-year ban from keeping dogs, imposed after a Staffie he owned mauled a toddler in 2015.
Elaine Towns – who was acquitted over that incident – admitted she was solely responsible when Keira and Chino attacked a man and Chino attacked two women.
She too has now been banned from keeping dogs.
Kirrie chaos
The pair, both of Glamis Road, appeared in the dock together at Forfar Sheriff Court.
Between May 1 2022 and January 22 2023, John Towns admitted he had custody of Kiera and American Bully Chino while a court-imposed ban was in place.
On various occasions between those dates, Elaine Towns admitted she owned the dangerously out of control dogs, which jumped up and bit a male at Glamis Road in Kirriemuir, growled at him and acted aggressively towards him.
She also admitted that on an occasion between September and December 2022, she was the owner of Chino when it was dangerously out of control and acted aggressively, growled and snapped at a female and jumped up on her, also at Glamis Road.
Furthermore, she pled guilty to owning Chino when he was dangerously out of control on January 22 last year at Glamis Road.
On that occasion, Chino barked, acted aggressively, jumped up and bit the clothing of a different female.
Fined and banned
Sheriff Derek Reekie fined Elaine Towns £300 and banned her from keeping dogs for five years.
He also ordered her to pay the man who was attacked £200 compensation, as well as £100 compensation to the woman attacked in 2022 and £150 to the woman attacked in 2023.
The sheriff spared the dogs from destruction.
At another hearing earlier this month, the “concerned” sheriff fined John Towns £450, plus a £20 victim surcharge, for breaching his dog ban.
He said: “You served a sentence of 12 months in prison for a dangerous dog offence.
“Yet over a period of a year, you have had custody of two dogs.
“That’s the extent of the offence I’m dealing with.
“The only penalty I can impose is a fine. I cannot interfere with the period of disqualification.”
Staffie sentence
In 2015, John Towns admitted he was the owner of a Staffordshire Bull Terrier which attacked the two-year-old girl at his home that year.
The girl lost teeth and was left with “large, gaping wounds” on her cheeks and was told she may require plastic surgery.
Towns, who has a “significant” criminal record, admitted being the owner of the dangerously out of control dog and was jailed for a year.
For more local court content visit our dedicated page, or join us on Facebook.
