Camelon couple banned from owning animals for five years after dog attacks left victims in hospital

Nijole Tamuliene and Jurgis Tamulis were looking after the Japanese Akita, which was subject to a dog control notice requiring it to be muzzled in public and kept on a short leash, for their grown up son.

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard they did not comply with the order – because it kept taking its muzzles off.

The male dog, known as Teddy, the subject of nine previous behaviour complaints when it attacked 26,Ryan Tuck, in Camelon, in June 2022, sinking his teeth into his arm.

Just months later it attacked 42-year-old Mrs Terri Brown, also in Camelon, near the Tesco store, repeatedly biting her on the arm and hand, and trying to attack her face, to her severe injury, permanent disfigurement and permanent impairment.

Today, Sheriff Maryam Labaki ordered Tamuliene, 63, and Tamulis, 60, to pay £1000 compensation to Mrs Brown, sentenced them to 150 hours of unpaid work, and banned them from owning or caring for animals for five years.

Sheriff Lababki labelled Teddy "a danger to public safety" and issued an order for his destruction.

She said: "This is a case where parents have been left in charge of a very large dog which had an order on it to be appropriately muzzled. It is very sad that the order to muzzle was ignored.

"That required effort, but that's what's so tragic about this case. This could have been avoided. Two people in their sixties with no previous convictions are sitting in the dock. I have given consideration to whether a custodial sentence is appropriate. I am satisfied an alternative is appropriate."

A furious Mrs Brown later said the couple should never be allowed a dog again.

The court heard that Mr Tuck had been visiting his mother in Hamilton Street, when he was attacked. Leaving his mother's house about 2.50 pm he "suddenly felt immense pain" and screamed in agony.

James Moncrieff, prosecuting, said: "He looked down and observed an Akita dog latched onto his left forearm. It had its teeth in his arm."

Tamulis, who had the dog on a lead, pulled at it, but its teeth remained in Mr Tuck's arm for ten seconds. It eventually let go, and Tamulis walked off.

Mr Tuck was left with a large hole in his left hoodie sleeve, and his arm was bleeding badly, with a puncture wound and teeth marks.

He followed Tamulis and the dog down an alley, before walking back into the street where the attack had occurred and entering a common close.

Mr Tuck reported the street number to police before going to hospital where his wound was dressed.

On November 22, 2022, Mrs Brown was walking along Carmuirs Street, when she noticed Tamulis's partner, Tamuliene. The dog was on "a long rope" and "going to the toilet on the pavement".As she walked onto the road to get round it, Mr Moncrieff said, "at this point the dog lunged at her from over six feet away with its mouth open, and put both its forepaws up at her".

He said: "She tried to move away but it caught her on her left forearm. She pulled her arm away and she saw her sleeve had been ripped off and was lying on the ground.

"She then felt pain and saw a significant amount of blood coming from her arm and saw the skin was hanging off it."

Mr Moncrieff said the dog then went for her face, and she stuck her left hand up to protect herself. The dog then bit at her hand, puncturing the skin.

Tamuliene "ran down" a nearby street with the dog, while a passer-by called an ambulance and the police.

Mrs Brown was taken to hospital and given morphine and gas because of the pain. She needed a skin graft, spent a week in hospital, and had to have her dressings changed regularly by medics for three and a half months.

Mr Moncrieff told the court: "The incident has affected her day-to-day life as the skin on her arm's very thin. She's limited in what she can do in terms of putting strain on her arm. She describes the incident as having been life-changing for her."

Tamuliene was arrested and the dog was taken into custody.

Speaking through a Lithuanian interpreter, Tamuliene and Tamulis, of Camelon, confirmed pleas of guilty to being in charge of a dangerously-out-of-control dog.

Solicitor Ross McGowan, for Tamuliene, a factory worker, said she was "remorseful and highly apologetic".

He said she never intended to have a dog again.

Mark Fallon, for Tamulis, unemployed, said he "also expressed genuine remorse."

He said: "The dog is big and Mr Tamulis is slight and he struggled to control it."

Outside court, Mrs Brown, a full-time carer, said she still suffered from the effects of the savaging.

She said: "I have good days and bad days. In my opinion they should have been given a lifetime ban, not just five years.

"Tamuliene's solicitor said she showed remorse, but she didn't help me when it happened. It wasn't until somebody else stepped in that I was able to get the help organised that I needed. So where's that remorse?

"There are no winners from this – and a dog's had to lose its life because of irresponsible owners."