This Tuesday, a 37-year-old woman is tried for involuntary injuries by attacking a dog, with a total incapacity for work of 42 days for the victim. The facts date back to March 28, 2021…
This Tuesday, a 37-year-old woman is tried for involuntary injuries by attacking a dog, with a total incapacity for work of 42 days for the victim. The facts date back to March 28, 2021 in Piets-Plasence-Moustrou. A family rides with a little girl on a pony from the local riding club.
They make a loop which leads them to pass in front of the defendant’s home twice. A first female dog, of the Malinois type, will come to meet them. The animal is “very agitated” and barks. Walkers hunt him. But on the way back, as they take a stone path that leads to the cemetery, it is the two dogs of the house who appear.
“She flew through the air”
The most imposing, a Presa Canario (or Canary Mastiff) runs towards the dog from the equestrian centre, which accompanies them. The mother of the family was then hit from behind. “She flew in the air”, concedes the defendant herself. The lady falls heavily. She suffers from lower back pain. She has in fact a fracture of the apophysis, this growth of the bone which one finds on each of the vertebrae. 42 days of ITT. She could not return to her job.
A complaint is filed. The owner of the dog is slow to seize his insurance. And in October, the gendarmes give him a month to find an arrangement. She thinks she has done what is necessary. But the case is not progressing. And we find ourselves a little less than a year later before a criminal court as a single judge.
“He didn’t mean to hurt”
The “affair” which disturbed the tranquility of the charming village of Piets turns to the settlement of accounts in public hearing. “The owner of the equestrian center, when she passes by my house with dogs on the loose and mine bark, she throws stones towards my property”, attacks the defendant who suspects collusion with the victim.
She concedes anyway. “My dog knocked it down. He didn’t want to hurt her, he didn’t attack her. She flew and hurt herself, I’m sorry. She says that she offered to help, to call the fire brigade or a doctor, and that she was told that we were going to file a complaint. The family would have already been confronted with the defendant’s dogs during a previous walk.
For insurance, the 30-year-old admits: “I was a little late. I had other more important concerns. I contacted the insurance, I was waiting for it to happen. »
As a civil party, Me Valérie Chauvelier denounces, not without biting, “an act of involuntary violence” committed by “a dog of the molossoid type”. But the deputy prosecutor Sébastien Baraldi is more embarrassed. The dog is not classified as dangerous, and it is therefore complicated to point out the particular obligation that the owner would have flouted to characterize an aggression by a dog. Exit the crime. The prosecution proposes a fine of €300 for unintentional injuries.
” Bad reputation “
In defense, Me Philippe Moriceau was going to plead the release, in the absence of proof of an aggression of the dog. Basically, he believes that his client, four mentions in the record (use of narcotics, outrages, rebellion and violence against a person holding public authority, traffic violation), is the victim of “bad reputation”. “The equestrian center got involved, the mayor got involved. »
It reassures: the victim will be well compensated by insurance. “The file has been postponed for administrative reasons. And meanwhile, the authorities are getting angry. “You shouldn’t see “I don’t care” in his client who can only be criticized for “putting her head in the sand a little when you already have a lot of hassles”. The court will take the time to deliberate. The decision will be made on October 4.