Dog owner sentenced by York Magistrates

The owner of a Staffordshire bull terrier who attacked another dog has been sentenced by York Magistrates.

Andrew Bartle (aged 52 of Foxwood Lane, York) owns two Staffordshire bull terriers and, on 3 August 2023, he was served a Community Protection Warning. This followed the Council receiving a complaint alleging that Mr Bartle's two terriers had escaped his home, run across the road and approached a passer-by walking her dog. The terriers’ behaviour was so aggressive that the passer-by picked up her dog and ran away.

The Council received further complaints about the terriers and, on 20 December 2023, served Mr Bartle with a Community Protection Notice (CPN). This required him to keep both dogs under proper control, use fixed length leads and muzzles, and lawfully microchip them.

This order was breached on 29 April 2024 when one of Mr Bartle’s dogs, an 8-year-old grey Staffordshire bull terrier called Lola, attacked and seriously injured another dog that was being walked near his home. The injured dog required an operation which cost £865.34. The attack was reported to and investigated by the Council which gathered CCTV evidence and witness statements. At interview, Mr Bartle gave no comment.

On 21 October 2024, York Magistrates found Mr Bartle guilty in his absence of breaching the CPN and having a dog dangerously out of control which resulted in the attack.  He was also convicted of failing to comply with a notice requiring him to update the microchip details of his other dog, called Charlie.  The court felt that due to the serious nature of both attack and offences, it would be inappropriate to sentence Mr Bartle in his absence and issued a warrant without bail for him to attend.

Mr Bartle appeared at York Magistrates Court on 10 January 2025, where he was given a 12-month community order. This order that means Mr Bartle will be electronically tagged, and cannot leave his property between, 7pm to 7am for three months, and that only Mr Bartle can handle this dog, which must be kept on a fixed-length lead and muzzled at all times outside the home.

The Magistrate also ordered compensation for the attacked dog owner’s vet bills to be deducted from Mr Bartle’s benefits.

The sentence was handed down by Magistrates during a Council consultation on penalising owners of dogs which are out of control or behaving aggressively. Currently residents are being asked for comments on whether on-the-spot fines should be issued as a timely response to dog behaviour offences and so avoid the delays that can occur when taking owners to court for more serious instances.

Cllr Michael Pavlovic, Executive Member for Community Safety at City of York Council, said: “With dog ownership comes responsibilities. Those who don’t ensure their dogs aren’t a danger or a cause of fear must face the consequences. We welcome these conditions placed by York Magistrates which we will monitor and enforce.

“Anyone concerned about aggressive or uncontrolled dogs and how we take action against their owners are invited to take part in our consultation at www.york.gov.uk/consultations#pspo before 7 February.”