A dog which killed an Angus kennel owner had previously mauled a woman and a smaller pet in savage street attacks, it has emerged.
The American XL Bully bit a woman who claims she “had to punch it in the mouth” to save her own puppy from certain death.
Peter Fyfe’s powerful bulldog-type dog also grabbed a Shih Tzu round the neck and tossed it around like a rag doll in an earlier attack.
Six months later, father-of-five Adam Watts was mauled to death by the same animal at Juniper Kennels and Cattery in Auchterhouse, where he worked and lived.
Fyfe, 48, appeared at Dundee Sheriff Court to admit being in charge of a dog which was dangerously out of control in both city attacks, which happened nine days apart in June last year.
He was banned by a sheriff from keeping dogs for five years.
Both victims have told The Courier how he could not control his pet and was pulled off his feet by it.
The sentence was slammed by Dundee woman Amanda Williams, a victim of one of the previous attacks, who told The Courier: “He should have been barred for life from owning dogs.”
‘Punched dog in mouth’
Speaking for the first time about the horrific incident, 42-year-old Amanda said she punched the XL Bully in the mouth to stop it killing her puppy, a Bichon cross Yorkie called Coco, in the city’s Victoria Road on June 10 2021.
She said the bigger dog went on to bite her on the back of her lower leg, piercing the skin, meaning she had to get a tetanus jab.
Amanda, of Ann Street in Hilltown, had been waiting for her partner to finish work with her dog under her legs, getting some shade from the sun, when the terrifying attack happened.
She said: “This bigger dog jumped over me to get my dog.
“As soon as I saw that dog trying to attack my dog, I punched it in the mouth (and grabbed her own dog away).
“I had to punch it in the mouth.
“There’s no doubt that dog would have got hold of my puppy and it would be dead.
“I didn’t really feel pain when it bit me, I was just shocked and stunned by what had happened”.
Amanda said she had noticed the hefty animal moments before the attack and moved away from it because it looked like it was “on a mission”.
She added: “This dog’s face was just like, ‘wow.’ It looked very agitated.
“The person with the dog couldn’t handle it.
“I saw the dog pull him off his feet before it jumped.”
Ms Williams claims she saw the same man with the dog the next day and that it was off the lead and without a muzzle.
She says her pet, now one-and-a-half years old, is still terrified of bigger dogs and will have to be put through special training.
Fyfe, of Dundee’s Marryat Terrace, pled guilty to being in charge of an XL Bully which was dangerously out of control in Victoria Road on June 10 last year.
He admitted his dog lunged towards Coco and then repeatedly bit Amanda on the body to her injury.
Second attack
Dundee Sheriff Court also heard how his dog mauled a defenceless Shih Tzu nine days later, while its 83-year-old owner Eunice Gow, watched on helplessly.
The out-of-control animal grabbed little Bobby by the neck and locked it in its jaws as it repeatedly shook it around in Caird Avenue.
Mrs Gow recalled the brutal attack, which was captured on video.
She said a passing motorist stopped their car and managed to halt the savaging by hitting the bigger dog with a stick.
She said Bobby’s neck was covered in bite marks and he was fortunate to have been wearing a thick collar.
Mrs Gow, of Wedderburn Place, said it was also lucky there had been about 20 people in the area at the time.
“A man came out (from a car) and hit the dog with a stick.
“Bobby was being thrown like a rag doll and was screaming and yelping throughout it.
“I was in an awful state.
“When he finally dropped Bobby, Bobby ran on to the road and a car had to pull up.
“He ran right to my front door without me, he was that shocked.
“We then took him to the vet.
“If we had been in another street, a quieter street, I think that dog would have killed Bobby.”
VIDEO: Watch moment killer dog drags owner to the ground after attack
Mrs Gow said Fyfe never looked like he was in control of the animal and it had far too long a lead and a loose collar.
Even after the dog stopped mauling Bobby, she said it pulled the man onto his belly and dragged him along the street – an incident captured on video.
The footage goes on to show Bobby’s pitiful state after the attack.
At court on Wednesday, Fyfe admitted he was in charge of the dog when it was again dangerously out of control on June 19 in Caird Avenue.
Sheriff George Way placed him on a curfew for 105 days and banned him from having “the care or custody of any dog” for a period of five years.
Adam’s death shocked local community
The sentencing comes less than a year after the same dog attacked and killed 55-year-old Adam Watts at his Auchterhouse kennels.
His death and the circumstances surrounding it shocked the local community and many across the country.
Mr Watts cared for many dogs during his 20 years running the kennels and took in animals from the Scottish SPCA animal welfare centre in Petterden.
It had been previously reported the killer dog had been put into the care of his kennels after being involved in an incident with another dog.
It was subsequently destroyed.
It was the second tragedy to hit the family in less than a decade after his wife and the mother of his five boys, Eileen, died of cancer in 2013.
The American Bully is a modern breed of dog – with the XL being the largest at up to 200 pounds – with the American Bully Kennel Club describing it as giving the “impression of great strength for its size.”
Breeders have acknowledged that American Bully dogs can be very dangerous if improperly raised or bred and they have been responsible for fatal attacks as many as six since 2020 – in the United Kingdom.
