A man and a woman have been jailed for two years in connection with a dog attack which left a Wexford boy, Alejandro Mizsan, with serious facial injuries.
Karen Miller, with an address formerly of Forgelands in Enniscorthy pleaded guilty to charges in relation to the dog attack at Wexford Circuit Court.
Niall Byrne, also with an address formerly of Forgelands in Enniscorthy, also pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the incident.
The attack by the XL Bully dog in November 2022 left 11-year-old Alejandro Mizsan with significant facial injuries.
Public Affairs Correspondent with the Irish Independent and Wexford Woman, Amy Molloy was there and outlined the charges to Beat News:
"Karen Miller was charged with two counts of endangerment in relation to the attack on Alejandro Mizsan and also the attack on another young boy, Daniel Whelan, four days previous. She was also charged under the Animal Health and Welfare Act with obstructing Gardaí when they came looking for the dog. She told them that she didn't know about the dogs' whereabouts but at the same time, her former partner Niall Byrne was actually inhumanely destructing the dog. Mr Byrne was charged in connection with two counts of threatening to kill or harm and he was also charged with inhumanely destructing the dog."
Four days previously, the dog had attacked another child, Daniel Whelan. He suffered scratches to his face and had what Molloy described as "a lucky escape."
The judge took this into account when sentencing the couple as this should have been a "warning sign."
Molloy also said that the court heard about the mental and physical impacts that the attack has had on Alejandro.
"This boy is never going to be the same again. The medical reports read out in court basically said as much. They said he's always going to have a smaller mouth, he's always going to have lifelong scarring. His family said he's going to need further reconstructive surgeries later in life to try and I suppose rectify some of the damage that was done," she said.
"His mother said that he's afraid to sleep alone. He doesn't like going out and playing with his friends on the green anymore. He's nervous going to school because he thinks nobody likes him because of how he looks. It's devastating to hear how this attack impacted such a young boy," Molloy added.
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