WARNING – GRAPHIC IMAGES: Caio Shaw had been excited to go to a birthday party but an XL Bully which was caged in the living room somehow got loose and attacked him
An XL Bully owner stabbed his own dog twice after it bit an eight-year-old boy’s right thumb off and savaged a grandma.
Ian Parry, 45, of North Penrally, Caernarfon, Gwynedd, admitted to owning a dog dangerously out of control which caused injury on August 11 and was jailed for 26 months today. Caio Shaw declared in an impact statement read by his mother at Caernarfon crown court: “I thought I was going to die. I still get bad dreams about what happened. I have scars all over my body.”
Prosecutor Richard Edwards said the youngster was excited to be going to a birthday party. His mum Ffion Williams, 38, a carer, took him to Parry’s nearby home. It comes after a shark attack horror as boy, 7, had his leg shredded in an idyllic bay.
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“Ms Williams didn’t know there was an XL Bully dog at the address,” counsel said. The dog had been in a cage in the living room. Parry later told police a child may have opened the cage.
Mr Edwards said as Caio and a friend were preparing to go to the party, gran Yvette Hodgson saw the dog “focussed” on Caio outside the home. It leapt towards Caio’s face.
Both the gran and boy fell to the floor and she tried to shield the youngster, but there was a “crunching” sound from his hand. Parry got a knife from the house and stabbed the dog in the chest. But the pet bit Mrs Hodgson’s forehead before it was stabbed a second time.
The schoolboy was left covered in blood. He was taken to hospital at Bangor and then, due to the severity of his injuries, transferred 90 miles to Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool. Mr Edwards said: “Police found, despite the two stab wounds, the dog was still alive. The decision was made to dispatch the dog with a single shot to the head.”
Caio had a catalogue of wounds including to the ear, shoulder, face and arm and was seen by a plastic surgery team. The dog was about 10 months old and bought for £1,000 on Facebook, according to Parry.
In an emotional impact statement, Caio’s mother told the judge her son had been “adventurous and boisterous.” She said: “I had absolutely no idea the dog was in the house. If I had known there had been an XL Bully at the address I would never have let Caio go in. They have a bad reputation.”
She described seeing his ear was torn and thumb had gone. “He was asking me ‘why me, why me, I didn’t do anything wrong’.” Ms Williams said. “Caio could have been killed that day. I think about what could have happened.” Her son suffered nightmares and had a nickname at school which “triggers” him.
The prosecutor added that Parry had 33 offences on his record including for violence and drug matters. Defence barrister Simon Killeen said Parry had a wife and four children and had “absolutely genuine remorse.”
Mr Killeen said the dog required an exemption certificate to keep it. Parry used an online system but didn’t check payment had been made for it. Judge Nicola Jones said the dog didn’t wear a harness or collar when it left the cage. She said serious injury was caused to the boy, with partial amputation of the thumb, and to Yvette Hodgson.
“It was an XL Bully, it was known to be prohibited,” the judge added. An indefinite order prevents Parry from having custody of a dog. He protested in Welsh from the dock about his sentence.
Outside court, Caio’s mum said : “I’m glad the case is over. It’s a life sentence for Caio. It will never be over for Caio. I feel guilty because I took him there.”