A WOMAN and her dog suffered a terrifying attack by two out-of-control huskies who had run away from their owner.

The woman, who was accompanied by her 12-year-old daughter, was bitten repeatedly and her four-month-old pet was savaged in Dunfermline.

The pup was traumatised, never fully recovered from the incident and has since been put down.

However, the two huskies remain with their owner, 54-year-old Neil Sutherland, a school janitor, of Ritchie Place, Dunfermline.

This is despite a sheriff saying he was “most surprised” the dogs had not been put down.

However, when it came to the sentencing, Sheriff Craig McSherry decided against making destruction orders and did not ban Sutherland from keeping dogs. There was also no compensation order for the victim.

Sutherland appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court accompanied by a signer for the deaf.

He admitted that on June 21, 2021, at Woodmill Road, he was the owner of two Husky dogs, ‘Aria’ and ‘River’ which were dangerously out of control.

They were allowed to run free, attack and bite a Border Collie named Kenzo, causing it injury and then they bit the owner repeatedly, to her injury.

Depute fiscal Azrah Yousaf said that at 7.30pm, the woman was with her 12-year-old daughter and Kenzo. They had just finished training it in the grounds of St Columba’s High School

As they walked in Woodmill Road, two huskies came running towards them.

They attacked the pup with one clamping its teeth on the collie’s head and the other clamping on its ear.

The woman managed to pull her dog away and lifted him up into her arms.

The huskies then jumped on her and started biting her arms. They were also biting at the pup.

The woman was screaming and tried to run away as the huskies continued to bite at her.

A passer-by walking his Doberman tried to put himself in the way of the huskies but they continued to go after the woman.

Two off-duty nurses, who were at a sports session at Woodmill High nearby, heard the screams and went to the woman’s help.

Sutherland turned up at the scene and said he had six dogs and two of them had “escaped”.

The depute said the woman and her daughter were traumatised by the incident. The pup had to be taken to the vet to have its wounds treated and the woman went to hospital.

The depute said the woman had written to the court to describe the impact the offence had on her family. She said Kenzo had never fully recovered and had been put to sleep recently, which was heartbreaking for the family.

She herself had been left with visible scars and her daughter was now terrified of large dogs.

Defence solicitor Elaine Buist said her client and his family had six huskies. He was putting two of them into his car when they ran off.

She went on: “He appreciates what a terrifying incident this would have been. He deeply regrets what happened.”

She added that her client was also very upset to hear how the pup had been affected by the incident afterwards which was “tragic” for the family.

Sheriff McSherry commented: “This was an attack on a four-month-old dog and its owner with the lady also being injured.

“I’m most surprised these dogs haven’t been put down. I’m very concerned about this. Huskies are not generally known as dangerous dogs but they’ve behaved in this way.

“The way dogs behave can also be traced to the owners.”

Ms Buist conceded: “It’s surprising the dogs weren’t removed. They are still with him.”

Sheriff McSherry said he had been dissuaded from making any destruction order because of the favourable comments about Sutherland by the dog warden who had investigated the matter.

The sheriff fined Sutherland £520.