Dog that ‘recognises 300 commands in Latin’ escapes being put down despite biting a policeman’s backside

A dog that knew ‘300 commands in Latin’ has escaped being put down after it savaged a policeman by biting his bottom.

PC Michael Obern screamed out in agony as the large Carpathian Shepherd Dog chomped straight through his trousers and underwear and into his left buttock, a court heard.

Gemma Sankey, the owner of the female dog called Shroom, was convicted of failing to control a dangerous animal after the incident and a separate attack on a woman at a glamping site.

Magistrates previously found her guilty of two counts after hearing Sankey’s bizarre defense in which she said the dog was very intelligent and knew ‘more than 300 commands in Latin’, while also claiming both the victims’ injuries were ‘self-inflicted’.

The Crown Prosecution Service applied for the 40kg dog to be destroyed.

But now, as Sankey was sentenced at court, magistrates said the dog should not be destroyed and ordered it to be muzzled in public instead.

Sankey, 51, sobbed in the dock at Salisbury Magistrates’ Court, Wilts, as magistrates told her they would spare her dog from being put down.

Shroom must wear a ‘sufficient’ muzzle and if it is caught not wearing it then the police can have the dog destroyed.

Telling her ‘the future of Shroom is in your hands’, the magistrates ordered Sankey to keep the six-stone Romanian dog muzzled whenever it is in public.

Magistrates sentenced Sankey to a 12-month community order in which she must complete 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

She must also pay £1,974, which includes a fine of £60, £1250 kennel fees, compensation of £50 to both victims, a surcharge of £114 to fund victim services, and £450 court costs.

Carpathian Shepherd Dogs originate from Romania where they were bred for their size and strength to guard livestock from bears and wolves. They are said to be ‘fearless’ and to make excellent guard dogs.

Sankey told the court she had worked as a dog psychologist with a special knowledge of ‘canine aggression’ for over 35 years, but prosecutors said she had no formal qualifications, and should not be considered ‘an expert’.

In October 2021, PC Obern was helping Sankey move some items into a Travelodge in Devizes, Wilts, when the dog turned on him, prosecutors said.

The officer revealed he had been warned by Sankey in a previous meeting not to wear high-vis clothing as this would make the dog ‘react’.

The Wiltshire Police officer, who knew Sankey from his time as a community support officer, told magistrates he, therefore, chose to wear a black police vest in a bid to appease the animal.

But, he told Salisbury Magistrates Court that when he approached the dog it almost immediately attacked him: ‘I managed to pet her but she then bit my left buttock.

‘It ripped my trousers, ripped my boxer shorts, and broke the skin. The dog was on a lead but it was quite a long one. I then told Ms. Sankey to take the dog inside.

‘I had a bruise for a week, but I had been bitten by a human in another incident a few months before so I’d already had a tetanus injection.’

The court was shown bodycam footage captured by PC Obern in which he could be seen petting the dog.

Moments later, the police officer was heard screaming in pain as the dog bit him in the buttock off camera.

Magistrates heard that two months previously, in July 2021, Sankey had been staying in a tent on a ‘glamping site’ when Shroom bit a woman who was cleaning tents.

Michelle Vincent, who lived on her parents’ glamping site in the village of Seend, near Melksham, Wilts, told the court: ‘I went down to help my mum get a tent ready for a new arrival later that day.

‘Gemma came out with her dog on a lead and was talking to my mum.

‘Shroom lunged at me and bit the back of my left thigh – she pulled Gemma off her stance. I told Gemma ‘Your dog’s just bitten me’. She was a very big dog.

‘She said ‘No it hasn’t, there’s no hole in your trousers’.

‘Gemma said ‘Show me your leg,’ but I didn’t want to take my trousers off in the middle of a field and show a stranger my thigh.

‘When I looked later I had red circles along where the knicker line is. I knew Shroom has bitten through two leads in the past while tied up to a picnic bench.

‘I don’t blame Shroom at all – being tied up continually is not conducive to good behavior. Had it been a small child it could have been a really serious injury.’

Sankey, of Amesbury, Wilts, denied both offenses and said her dog did not bite PC Obern or Ms. Vincent.

She told the court: ‘When Shroom gets excited she jumps up occasionally.

‘She knows over 300 commands in Latin, so you could say she’s very long in the tooth.

‘The picture of Mrs. Vincent’s injury looks like a ‘spotty bum,’ not like a dog bite.

‘PC Obern gave Shroom a slap hit and then he turned away. His injuries were not caused by a bite from Shroom – a Chihuahua would have made more bite marks.’

She told the hearing she was an expert in animal behavior and had previously owned ‘four dogs and 15 horses’.

However, prosecutor Natalie Cheesman told the court there was no evidence Sankey was an expert in canine aggression, and that she had no relevant qualifications.