Owner of dog that attacked postman, BT worker and binman ordered to pay £2,500

THE owner of a dangerous dog that bit three people in South Craven has been ordered to pay compensation of £2,500.

Magistrates sitting at Harrogate Justice Centre also ordered Gemma Fisher’s dog to be destroyed, unless an appeal is lodged, and disqualified her from keeping a dog for seven years.

Fisher, 41,of previous good character, of Greenroyd Mill, Sutton-in-Craven, pleaded guilty in January at Skipton Magistrates Court to three charges of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury.

The dog, a Staffordshire bull terrier French bulldog cross called Callie, bit a postman, a BT worker and a council refuse collector outside her home in the space of three weeks in summer, 2025.

The court heard at the time that all three victims had been injured and two reported going to Airedale Hospital where they had been treated, given tetanus jabs and antibiotics.

A BT engineer, attacked by Callie on July 23 last year, said the dog had bitten him twice.

The man described how there had been apologies from the owner at the time, but he had felt them insincere. He had been shocked to see the dog’s teeth had got through his thick working trousers and blood pouring down his leg.

He had been treated at Airedale Hospital and had reported it to the police because he feared the dog might bite a child.

The refuse collector, had used a wheelie bin to shield himself from the dog after it had bitten him on August 5. The required stitches could not be done, because of the bite’s position, behind a knee.

The court heard in mitigation at the time that Fisher, a carer to her three children all with autism, had taken steps to control the dog including the use of baby gates to stop it getting out, a crate to put it in, a muzzle and a special collar designed to calm it down.

She had got the dog when it was a puppy and it had become more aggressive after it came into season for the first time.

The court was told that the dog had been seized by police following the third attack and had taken into kennels where it remained at a cost of £26 per day. At the time of Fisher’s January court appearance, the bill stood at more than £4,100.

Harrogate Justice Centre (Image: Lesley Tate)

Fisher was sentenced at Harrogate Magistrates Court on March 27 and received a 12 month conditional discharge, but ordered to pay four lots of compensation – three of £500 and one of £1000. The dog will be destroyed, unless there is an appeal within 21 days of the sentencing.