Dog Attack
Eric’s dogs had escaped his garden whilst he was out.
Upon his return he assumed the dogs may have been stolen, so sure was he that his garden had been secure. He and his wife went to look for the dogs in the local area before calling the Police, just to make certain. Had they turned right from the garden they may have walked into their dogs attacking Andrea and her dog. They turned left, however, and took a big sweep in the opposite direction before finally being directed by someone in the village to call the Police. It was only then that they found out what had happened. Their dogs had been taken to a kennels and they were not allowed to visit them. They did not know who the victim was but were informed by the Police about the injuries both she and her dog had received.
Andrea did not want the Eric to be charged with any offences but did want to tell him how his dogs had behaved during the attack. She had endured a very scary attack and very probably saved her own dog’s life. The incident led to big changes in Andrea’s life but also for her husband who had been working full time in America. He handed in his notice because he had not been able to be there for his family in the first few days after the attack.
Meanwhile, Eric had had many conversations with the Dog Warden and had taken the very difficult decision to have the dogs put down. The family had 5 children and could not trust the dogs after the incident and there was a question about the breed of the dogs too.
We were able to meet both families and talk to them about the harm caused and their ongoing fears. Both were uncomfortable about moving around the village as they didn’t know who the other parties were. We brought both couples together to meet each other for a Direct Restorative intervention and they were able to tell each other what happened that day from each individual perspective, then to talk about the ongoing problems Andrea and her husband were having. Everyone agreed that they felt better for having met each other, despite all being very sad about the event and the outcome of that. All said if they see each other around the village, they will now nod an acknowledgment and get on with their day.
