A toddler was mauled to death by a rottweiler belonging to his grandmother, an inquest has ruled.
Two-year-old Lawson Bond died after being attacked by a dog in the garden of his home in Egdon near Worcester on March 28 last year.
Worcestershire’s senior coroner David Reid ruled that Lawson’s death was the result of ‘misadventure’ after the two-year-old had managed to untie a security chain on a gate separating the main garden from kennels and entered a field used for exercising where he was then attacked.
Lawson had been playing in the garden before he was attacked while his grandmother Maria cleaned out the kennels used to house the older dogs. She had left Lawson to play in the garden and entered the house to go to the toilet where she stayed for between two and ten minutes to talk to her son Reiss.
She returned to find the chain had been removed from the gate and Lawson was missing.
Lawson was found face down in the field by his grandmother Maria who, along with her son and Lawson’s father Reiss Bond, rushed the boy to Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester.
On the way to the hospital, the pair were told to divert to the nearby Countryside Centre hospital where paramedics took over CPR.
The inquest held at Worcestershire Coroner’s Court in Stourport on Monday (August 21) heard how Lawson was “very energetic and fearless” and wanted to emulate his dad in every way. He had been told off by his dad Reiss the day before the dog attack for climbing on the security fence.
The inquest also heard how Maria Bond was a dog breeder and seller with more than 30 years of experience but had never possessed a licence.
Police inspected the Bond home where the attack occurred later in the day and found one of three rottweilers covered in blood. The dogs, which were put down in April last year following the attack, were described as “calm and well-behaved.”
The coroner said there was no evidence that there had been any issues between any of the dogs that Ms Bond had bred and Lawson – or anybody else.
Officers found the dog facilities and security to be “solid and well kept.”
Senior coroner David Reid said the fact that Ms Bond did not have a dog breeding licence did not contribute to Lawson’s death in any way.
Mr Reid did criticise Wychavon District Council and Worcestershire Regulatory Services for not being more proactive in their search for dog breeders without licences and was concerned that dogs would continue to be sold by “unscrupulous” dealers if they did not make more checks.
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