Police to proceed against mauled Chihuahua's owner

A woman who last May saw her pet Chihuahua being mauled and killed by a pit bull in Sliema has been served with a summons to appear in court on October 6 and face charges that she was keeping a dog without a licence and that she failed to keep the dog, which was a danger to others, under control.

Vanessa Grech, who has been waging a campaign to have dangerous dogs muzzled when in public, has also been summoned to testify as a witness in the case against the boy who was walking the pit bull.

Contacted yesterday, Mrs Grech said she had told the police her dog did not have a licence and that she was prepared to pay the licence or the fine. "However I was stunned to see the charge that I failed to keep the dog under control and that it was a danger to others. We are talking of a Chihuahua, kelb tal-but!," she said.

"At first I thought this was some error and that the police had mixed up the names of the man who owned the dangerous dog but when my father spoke to the police about it they said there was absolutely no mistake and that the sergeant had done the paperwork himself. They stood by what was written in the charges," she said.

"After losing Sophie, in what I can only describe as the most horrible day of my life and a nightmare that I relive every night in my dreams, the police are now saying that the poor, tiny, friendly and utterly helpless little Sophie was a danger to people and that I failed to control her. Where is the justice in that?"

A police spokesman contacted yesterday said the police will be looking into the matter to see on what grounds the charges against Mrs Grech were issued.