Last updated at 15:19, Friday, 08 June 2012

A STAFFORDSHIRE bull terrier cross which invaded a family’s home, chased their cat and bit a young girl, acted out of character, according to its owners.

Janine Salt, 33, appeared at Furness Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday to stand trial for failing to keep her dog Jackson under control and failing to keep a dog on a lead.

A 17-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court how she returned home in the early hours of January 1 to find the dog sniffing around the porch. When the teenager’s mother opened the front door, the dog spotted the family cat on the stairs and chaos ensued.

The teenager told the court: “The dog ran after my cat, up the stairs. The cat hid under my sister’s bed and the dog was trampling all over my younger sister while she was asleep. It kept going in and out of the bedrooms to find the cat.”

When the cat returned to the porch, the teen grabbed it in her left hand and the dog bit her on her right finger.

She added: “We managed to get the dog outside, but the dog was trying to move my porch door handle to get back in for an hour.”

A neighbour called the police and the dog was taken to the pound. Salt told the court she had left the dog locked in her home in Vulcan Road, Barrow, on New Year’s Eve before going out. However, she believed a friend had come in through the unlocked front door during the night and allowed Jackson to slip out.

Magistrates found Salt guilty of not keeping the dog under proper control and ordered her to make sure it was muzzled and on a lead when outside.

She was given a 12-month conditional discharge for failing to keep it on a lead and ordered to pay £100 costs.

Outside court, Jackson’s owner and Salt’s partner, Andrew Lippett, said: “This is the first time he has ever escaped and for something like this to happen, I am amazed really. I am absolutely gobsmacked it happened.”

First published at 13:41, Friday, 08 June 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk