Justice For Condemned Rottweiler

Chloe Grayson was left scarred for life following an incident at a New Year party at her neighbours house.

Chloe Grayson's mother claimed that Bully, the neighbours' rottweiler launched at Chloe and grabbed her face in his jaws when Chloe came downstairs for a drink. According to press reports, he then dragged her around the room by her face.

Mr and Mrs Pearson who owned Bully have a different perception of events but consented to the dog being seized by police, apparently confident that he would be cleared of any dangerous dog charges and returned to them.

Judge John Foster who first dealt with the case in April sentenced Bully to be destroyed following the prosecution's description of how the rottweiler 'pounced on Chloe' and 'clamped it's jaws around the youngster's cheek, scarring her for life'*.

Mr and Mrs Pearson, however, took the case to Sheffield Crown Court to appeal against the verdict due to their belief that the dog had not bitten Chloe.

Judge Robert Moore overruled the destruction order saying that Chloe's injuries were caused by scratches and a dew claw inflicted laceration.

Bully had undergone extensive temperament tests and not shown any aggression and according to Mrs Pearson, when she collected him the kennel staff told her he was a pleasure to have around.

Mr and Mrs Pearson recently released the following statement:

On 4th July 2007 my husband Lee Pearson and I attended Sheffield Crown Court regarding our dog Bully.



Bully was involved in an incident on New Years Eve 2007 and the Police became involved. Bully was kennelled by the Police after we voluntarily handed him over to the police. We did this because we are law abiding people and we were confident that the correct decision would be reached.



At Rotherham Magistrates Court Bully was ordered destroyed as a dangerous dog, we did not accept this and appealed to Sheffield Crown Court .



On 4th July 2007 Judge Moore and 2 lay colleagues heard the Prosecution evidence and had sight of 2 reports by expert witnesses regarding Bully.



The Prosecution case was that Bully had bitten the child to her face and that he was a dangerous



The decision was made by the Judge and lay bench that the medical notes provided to the court were not consistent with a bite or shaking as claimed by the prosecution. The Court felt that the injuries were consistent with a claw injury. The expert reports read by the Court both felt that a claw injury was more likely than a bite.



The case was dismissed at half time as the Court did not feel that the Prosecution had proved that Bully was out of control or that he was a dangerous dog.

The Court ruled that the injury was not a vicious attack but a tragic accident.

The injury was severe and the trauma and pain that this child went through was awful, Bully is a large and very heavy dog and his full weight was obviously on his front end as he came down after jumping up.

Comprehensive behavioural assessments were carried out on Bully by eminent behaviourists during which he behaved impeccably.
We understand that this poor child’s fears are real and that she may never be comfortable around dogs again and that is tragic.

We are now aware that accidents can and do happen and cannot be predicted, that is why they occur.
The lives of all parties have been affected by this awful incident.



We are however happy to have Bully home and are grateful to Fieldings Porter Solicitors and Ms Pam Rose for their assistance and the Courts for their decision.


It is fantastic news that justice has been reached for this lovely dog who took it all in his stride and that his owners have got their boy back. Rottweilers have had a lot of bad press recently and are marred in the public eye but in reality many of these dogs are gentle giants and just love human company.

Having spoken to other rottweiler owners, it appears any injuries these owners ever sustain are from paws, claws and dew claws. Rottweilers are very exhuberant souls and usually very emthusiastic so when a rottie jumps up or tries to give you paw, they put their whole into it - and they're heavy!

Of course this doesn't make Chloe's injuries any less serious and her fear and scarring is very real. She is very fearful of Bully himself which is understandable following such a traumatic experience. Whether Bully intended to injure her or not, she endured a lot of pain during his apparently over the top greeting and is understandably fearful that it could happen again.

I will end this by saying I truly hope that Chloe regains her confidence and can go out without fear but congratulations to Mr and Mrs Pearson and well done for standing up for your boy. Enjoy him!


*Quote from The Sheffield Star