Click photo to enlarge
Social worker Jackie Greenall, of Balclutha, shows where
she was bitten by a dog 14 months ago while visiting a
client.
A dog attack case which was bogged down in the judicial
system for more than 14 months has finally been resolved, with
a judge ordering the dog be destroyed, a decision the victim
describes as a "no-win situation".
Balclutha social worker Jackie Greenall was
mauled by Mowhiti, a 9-year-old German shepherd/Rottweiler
cross, at a Lawrence property in November 2008.
In the Balclutha District Court last week, Judge Paul Keller
convicted the dog's owner, Milton shearer Patrick Ngamoki, of
owning a dog that bites, fining him $500, with 130 court
costs, $100 witness expenses and $1000 be paid to Mrs
Greenall for emotional harm.
Judge Keller also ordered the dog be destroyed, a decision Mr
Ngamoki said he was unlikely to appeal.
But Mr Ngamoki also faces a bill of more than $4200, the cost
of keeping the dog in the Milton pound ($10 a day) since it
was seized by police after the attack 14 months ago.
Mrs Greenall underwent three operations in Dunedin Hospital,
including a skin graft, after the dog inflicted a deep bite
to her right elbow.
She had to take three months off work, undergo counselling
for four months and found it difficult to go back to
Lawrence.
But, she was also angry the matter took so long to resolve,
saying she was "over the whole court system and process".
"It shouldn't have taken that long to get something so clear
- 14 months is ridiculous," she said.
The court case was deferred nine times before being settled
last week.
Mrs Greenall wrote to the Sensible Sentencing Trust in May
last year and also to Government ministers Bill English,
Judith Collins, Simon Power and Georgina Te Heuheu on May 26.
A reply from Ms Te Heuheu, the Minister for Courts, in July
explained the length of time it took to resolve the case was
the result of the Balclutha District Court sitting only once
a month.
