A DOG, which was the cause of a blind person falling and breaking her thumb, was ordered to be put down by Judge Murrough Connellan at Arklow District Court yesterday.
The dog is the family pet of Mary Murray, whose late husband Brian was one of the two Bray fire fighters who perished while battling a fire in a derelict building in September 2007.
The court had heard the dog came out of a house and ran across the road, frightening Dorothy Scanlon’s guide dog and causing her to fall to the ground and break her thumb.
Judge Connellan adjourned the case from last week to see if Ms Murray could find a home for the dog, named Rocky, outside of Co Wicklow.
When the case was called at Arklow court yesterday Ms Murray was not in attendance and Judge Connellan ordered that the dog be handed over to the warden for destruction.
Ms Murray arrived in the court shortly after the judge had handed down his verdict, and she left again shortly afterwards.
Last week, Dorothy Scanlon, who wept as she gave her evidence, said that she had problems with the same dog in the past and had reported these difficulties to the Garda and the dog warden.
Garda David Robinson brought an application before the court alleging the dog was dangerous and not kept under proper control.
Garda Robinson went to Ms Murray and told her there had been too many complaints about the dog. On April 21st, he spoke to dog warden John Byrne who said he had also received a number of complaints about the dog.
In her evidence last week, Ms Murray said that the gates to her home were always locked now. She said she had a number of small children and the dog gave her peace of mind at night as her property was isolated.
The children would be heartbroken if the dog had to be put down, she said.