A man whose dogs were seized after they bit a child and a policeman in separate incidents has had his pets returned to him on the condition that he keeps them at home.
Lyndon Eldon’s German Shepherd bit an eight-year-old on the leg at Saunders Beach on October 22. Less than a month later, on November 16, his dogs bit a policeman at Arawak Cay.
Although pleading guilty to permitting a ferocious dog to be at large, being a person who keeps dangerous dogs that injure persons while being dangerously out of control in a public place and failing to keep a dangerous dog under control, Eldon blamed the dog bites on the victims.
According to Eldon, the young boy had “teased” his dogs, which were in the back of his vehicle, while walking across the parking at Saunders Beach with a guardian.
When asked if Eldon had offered to pay for medical care for the child, his lawyer, Sonia Timothy, replied that he had offered to buy the child ice cream.
Following that incident, Eldon allowed his German Shepherds to roam unrestrained at Arawak Cay weeks later.
Tourists alerted police and the dogs jumped at Reserve Inspector Carlton McPhee and bit his shoe.
Eldon said that his dogs were in protection mode and that the officer had approached him with a gun drawn.
Eldon was arrested and the dogs were impounded by animal control.
Senior Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans told Eldon that he was fortunate that the dog bite incidents were not more serious. She said that the dogs were suffering for his failures as an owner to have them properly trained. The magistrate told Eldon he was lucky that the people at the beach didn’t attack him or his dogs after the child was bitten. She said she had a case where a man had stabbed a dog multiple times and another where a dog had been beaten to death.
Vogt-Evans ordered the dogs returned to Eldon; however, she warned him that the dogs would be seized if he didn’t keep them confined to his premises.
Eldon was ordered to pay $250 in compensation to each bite victim to avoid spending one month in prison.
Additionally, he was given a conditional discharge on the condition that the dogs undergo behavioral training. Vogt-Evans said that the training would be demonstrated to the court. She added that she would shoot the dogs if they bit her.
Eldon will be fined a total of $200 or spend four months in prison if he defaults on any of these conditions.
