A High Court judge has warned that savage dogs should be kept under strict control after approving a settlement of €75,000 for a young boy who was badly mauled by two unmuzzled dogs at a Dublin flats complex, leaving him with serious scars on his face and buttocks.
The owner of the dogs, Mr Colm Burke, has died since the attack on Stephen Power, now aged 12, at Hardwicke Street flats in September 1998 and the settlement, made yesterday without admission of liability, is against Dublin Corporation, owner of the flats. Both Stephen and Mr Burke were residents in the flat complex.
Outlining the case, Mr John O'Donnell SC, for Stephen, with an address at Hardwicke Street flats, said the boy was seven on September 14th, 1998, when he was attacked without warning by the two dogs.
He sustained serious injuries and underwent 4½ hours of surgery at Temple Street Children's Hospital, where he received 120 stitches to the face and 80 to the buttocks.
Mr Justice Kearns acknowledged that the dogs were not under Dublin Corporation's control but that of one of its tenants.
