Cirencester-based Nicola Hurst, who runs the Complete Gardener, was attacked by a large male Rhodesian Ridgeback at a farm near Bibury.
The dog’s owner, Gabriella Parkes, was charged with being responsible for a dog which was dangerously out of control and caused injury under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
Parkes, 52, of Quarry Hill Farm, Bibury, denied the charge but was found guilty after a trial at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court last Monday, May 12.
She was given a 12-month conditional discharge and must pay £650 in costs plus a £26 surcharge.
Speaking to the Standard after the hearing, Ms Hurst, who lives in Cirencester, blasted the sentence as an ‘absolute joke’ and spoke of the moment she was attacked and the ongoing problems it has caused.
The attack, which happened shortly after Ms Hurst arrived to do gardening work at the farm on February 9 last year, left her with four tooth penetrations on her left arm – one of which went into the muscle, she said.
Ms Hurst, who attended the court hearing, said the injury has impacted her arm’s function and range of movement which has affected her work.
“I experience pain every day,” she said. “The swelling’s still not fully gone down.
“I’ve got permanent scarring as well – you can easily see bite marks.
“It’s a life-changing injury for me.”
Ms Hurst said the Ridgeback was present when she visited the farm for an initial assessment for gardening work but it did not display any threatening behaviour.
The attack took place a few weeks later during Ms Hurst’s next visit to undertake hedge cutting and to cut back borders.
She was accompanied by an employee as well as her Bernese mountain sheepdog Kez, who regularly accompanies her to jobs and was contained in the back seat area of her truck.
“When we arrived the yard was quiet and nobody was around,” she said.
“After unloading equipment and showing my employee the work we both returned to the truck.”
It was at this point that Ms Hurst spotted the Ridgeback in the yard near the house.
“I decided not to allow Kez out of the vehicle but I rolled down the back windows by around two-and-a-half inches so he could have some air.
“Upon sensing Kez, the Ridgeback changed completely and became ferocious.
“He was barking and baring his teeth and came charging over.
“At this point, I was standing away from the truck.
“He jumped up at the passenger door and I approached by the side of the vehicle.
“He was in attack mode.
“The dog was up on his haunches and his paws were higher than me.
“He was banging against the glass and the bodywork of the truck.
“I thought he was going to break the glass, get in and get to Kez.”
Fearful of harm to her dog and worried the Ridgeback would bite her hands, Ms Hurst said she tried to shove the dog away with her shoulder.
“It was barking and banging against the glass and it bit my arm,” she said.
“It gripped my left upper arm – he must have been on it for three to five seconds.
“I was so scared he was going to bite up to my neck and to my face.”
Ms Hurst said Parkes intervened and got the dog away.
“I was just standing there in an absolute daze bleeding,” Ms Hurst said.
“It had pierced through four layers of clothing.”
Ms Hurst said the owner helped by offering antiseptic cream before she left the property and went to Cirencester Hospital, where she was given butterfly stitches.
Commenting on the sentence, she said: “The conditional discharge is an absolute joke.”
Ms Hurst is still under the care of NHS Gloucestershire’s Musculoskeletal Advanced Practitioner Service more than a year after the incident.
“I had to have an MRI scan because the pain was getting worse, and it was discovered that I had a hole in my ligament,” she said.
“The pain and discomfort have moved further up into my arm and shoulder.
“I can’t sleep on my left-hand side.
“I can’t move my arm like before, and I can’t lift with it.
“I also can’t cut hedges up high anymore.
“I’m under ongoing physiotherapy, and I’m on painkillers.
“It’s definitely impaired a number of tasks.”
Despite her concern for her future health, Ms Hurst said she is hopeful the pain will subside.
Meanwhile, she wants to raise public awareness of dog safety and also wants other gardeners to be aware of the need to be vigilant of dogs when attending properties.