Judge orders destruction of dog that bit Kendal postman

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A 'DANGEROUS' out-of-control dog that bit a postman on his left buttock has been ordered to be destroyed by magistrates.

South Cumbria Magistrates Court heard the four-year-old German Shepherd, owned by Kamil Klistala, 18, of Sparrowmire Lane, Kendal, attacked mail man Daniel Fearon while he was delivering to a neighbour's house on the Hallgarth estate.

The court heard that the dog, called Aros, had been let off its lead by Klistala as he returned from a walk and it made a beeline for Mr Fearon through an open gate. It then bit Mr Fearon on the left buttock causing a surface tear and bleeding.


Mr Fearon visited Westmorland General Hospital, Kendal, after the incident, where he was given a tetanus jab and a course of antibiotics to protect him from infection.

District Judge Gerald Chalk told Klistala: "You are keeping something that is capable of doing serious harm. This is a dog that has teeth, and teeth can hurt and even kill people. By keeping a dog you have a weapon in your house.

"I have no evidence before me suggesting this dog is not dangerous other than you saying it is normally a good dog. It is a dangerous dog and should therefore be destroyed."

In mitigation David Mannering said: "Mr Klistala did his best to get his dog away and did so promptly and then assisted the postman. This is an incident born out of a lack of foresight."

Klistala, a theatre production student at Kendal College, was ordered to ensure his dog was destroyed within 14 days having pleaded guilty to owning a dog dangerously out of control which caused injury. He was also fined £125, ordered to pay costs of £85, and £200 compensation to Mr Fearon.

After the hearing, Derek Mallinson, deputy manager at Royal Mail, Kendal, told the Gazette: "The Royal Mail are not going to be happy at the family's loss obviously, but if the dog has been put down then it makes it a safer environment for our colleagues and the local populous as well."