A pit bull terrier could be destroyed after it chewed through a fence and entered a neighbour's garden before biting him on the hand.

The pit bull, named Sky, was seized by police at an address in Banstead Road, Carshalton, on Wednesday, November 13.

The dog is a registered pit bull meaning the owner has to comply with rules set out by Croydon magistrates under a contingency destruction order obtained earlier this year.

But failure to comply with the rules mean it could be killed after police have received reports of problems with the dog from three separate addresses.

In one case a neighbour paid more than £1,000 to repair a fence damaged by the dog. Concerned neighbours all approached Sky's owner who has continued to let his dog's behaviour go unchecked, police said.

On one occasion recently a neighbour was fixing a hole in his fence caused by Sky when the dog broke through the fence again and bit him on the hand leaving him bleeding.

Sutton Police Constable Heath Keogh said the dog should not have been able to enter someone else's property and cause them injury, nor should anyone who tried to apprehend the dog be fearful of being hurt.

The dog's future will now be decided by magistrates although a date for the hearing has not yet been set. Sky is being kept at police kennels.

Pit bulls have been banned in the UK since 1991 but anyone that owns one can apply for an exemption at a cost of just under £100.

The dogs must be neutered and have a muzzle but if the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) decides they are not dangerous they can be kept.

Sky is one of over 2,000 pit bulls kept under exemptions in the UK.

 

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