Eight-year-old boy's thumb bitten off as he played in street in savage XL Bully attack as owner is jailed
The dog's owner, Ian Parry, 45, was jailed for 26 months today after admitting to owning the illegal hound which attacked the boy on August 11 last year.
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In an impact statement read by his mum at Caernarfon crown court, Cao Shaw, said: 'I thought I was going to die. I still get bad dreams about what happened. I have scars all over my body.'
On the day of the attack, mum, Ffion Williams, 38, had taken her son to Parry's home in Caernarfon, Gwynedd on their way to a friend's birthday party.
When they arrived at his home, the dog was in a cage in the living room, the court heard.
Yvette Hodgson, who was there at the time, said she saw the dog looking 'focussed' before leaping onto the young lad's face.
Parry later told police a child may have opened the cage.
Prosecutor Richard Edwards said Hodgson and Caio fell to the floor as she tried to shield the youngster from the raging hound.
There was a 'crunching' sound from his hand before Parry ran to get a knife from the house.
But before he stabbed the dog a second time the pet bit Hodgson's forehead.
Covered in blood, the schoolboy was rushed to hospital in Bangor before being transferred to Alder Hey children's hospital in Liverpool where he was treated for serious injuries.
The prosecution said :'Police found, despite the two stab wounds, the dog was still alive.
"The decision was made to dispatch the dog with a single shot to the head.'
Caio had a catalogue of wounds including to the ear, shoulder, face and arm and was seen by a plastic surgery team.
In an emotional impact statement, Caio's mother told the judge her son had been 'adventurous and boisterous.'
She said :'I had absolutely no idea the dog was in the house. If I had known there had been an XL Bully at the address I would never have let Caio go in. They have a bad reputation.'
She described seeing his ear torn and thumb ripped.
She added: 'He was asking me 'why me, why me, I didn't do anything wrong.
"Caio could have been killed that day. I think about what could have happened.'
She said her son has since suffered ongoing nightmares and has been given a nickname at school which "triggers" him.
The prosecutor added that Parry had 33 offences on his record including for violence and drug matters.
Defence barrister Simon Killeen said Parry has a wife and four children, is a hard worker and has 'absolutely genuine remorse.'
The dog required an exemption certificate to keep it, he added, but Parry had failed to ensure payment had been made for it.
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