A DOG has been sentenced to death despite a last ditch attempt by its owner to save it in the High Court. Robert Hogg has been battling to save his Staffordshire Bull Terrier Zack since January 1996 when Bolton magistrates ordered it to be destroyed for accidentally biting an eight-year-old boy during a fight with another dog. But in the High Court in London yesterday, Lord Justice Simon Brown and Mr Justice Owen dismissed Mr Hogg's last ditch appeal.

Zack was sentenced to death after he bit Gavin Unsworth on the arm, causing a wound which needed eight stitches.

Although the magistrates accepted Zack had never been in trouble before and the bite had been accidental, they ruled that the dog had been "dangerously out of control in a public place" and was subject to mandatory destruction under the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act.

Mr Hogg, 24, of Queensway, Kearsley was also fined.

Magistrates are expected to set a date for Zack's destruction next week.

The hearing followed an incident last summer when Gavin Unsworth of Princess Avenue, Kearsley, was bitten by Zack as it fought with an alsatian he was taking for a walk.

Mr Hogg was out with his girlfriend at the time and said he had no idea how Zack got out.

Representing himself in the High Court, Mr Hogg said the Crown Court had been wrong to dismiss his appeal because although Zack was "out of control" there was no evidence that he was dangerous.

But Lord Justice Simon Brown said that having taken all matters into account "in particular the aggravating factor of the boy's injury, the finding that the dog was dangerously out of control was the only finding a reasonable tribunal could make."

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