Irish Setter puppy mauls deer in Richmond Park with owner fined £600
A beauty firm executive has been ordered to pay £600 costs after his Irish Setter puppy mauled a deer in Richmond Park leading bystanders to form a human shield around the wounded animal.
Franck Hiribarne was training his pet Alfie in the royal park in south-west London when the gun dog gave chase to the deer forcing it to run onto the road where it was struck by a car.
Footage shared on social media showed Alfie circling the injured deer before biting and dragging in front of bystanders who responded by attempting to protect the animal by forming a human shield around it.
A dog walker has pleaded guilty to a park regulation offence after his dog attacked a red deer in #RichmondPark on 01/10/2020. He appeared at Wimbledon Magistrates court on 15/01/21 and was fined a total of £602. Some viewers may find the footage distressing pic.twitter.com/r1SQGKnF1S
— Royal Parks Police (@MPSRoyal_Parks) January 18, 2021
The doe was able to limp away yet was later found by gamekeepers collapsed among ferns with her tail practically detached. The animal was put down following the severity of its injuries which included a broken leg and deep flesh wounds.
On Monday Hiribarne, who said he earns £200,000 a year in his executive role, was fined after he previously pleaded guilty to a charge of permitting a dog of which he was in charge of to chase, worry, or injure an animal at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court
The 44-year-old said he was “genuinely shocked and sorry” following the incident in October last year, and has since then “refrained completely from letting Alfie off the leash in any park.”
"I have also taken a special dog trainer specialised in gun dogs to control more accurately any of his hunting instincts. He has made great progress," he said.
Magistrate Jane Borne ordered Hiribarne, of Kingston-Upon-Thames, to pay costs totalling £602 including a £133 fine - reduced from the maximum penalty of £200 because of his guilty plea - and £350 compensation to The Royal Parks.
The Metropolitan Police have said that incidents of dogs chasing deer in London’s royal parks have surged during lockdown with 58 reported incidents since March last year.
Richmond Park’s manager, Simon Richards, branded the number as “completely unacceptable” with a spokesman for the charity commenting that this figure is likely to be “the tip of the “iceberg” as many incidents go unreported.
In a separate incident on Sunday, a 10-year-old child was taken to hospital after colliding with a deer being chased by a dog in Bushy Park.
