Lindsay Guerin, 40, who grew up within the US however now lives in Beaconsfield was entertaining household from throughout the pond at The Cliveden House Hotel in Taplow final Thursday, October 26, when her 9-year-old daughter was bitten by a ‘huge’ canine.
She had been standing exterior on the resort’s raised patio when she heard her daughter scream after which burst into tears from the route of the patio staircase.
“I asked if she was ok and she said, ‘The dog bit me’. Her sleeve was wet with slobber, and she was already bruising.”
Lindsay moved to confront the proprietor of the canine in query – a “huge, white fluffy breed” – however they refused to simply accept accountability for the incident.
“I stated to the woman, ‘Your dog just bit my daughter!’ however she instantly denied it: ‘No he didn’t!’ I attempted to point out her the bruise that was quickly forming on my daughter’s arm, however she had no concern for the damage, nor to assist.
“I prefer to suppose that I’m a reasonably competent person and that I can take care of my household, however I actually, genuinely didn’t know what to do at that second.
“I felt guilty that I didn’t know how to protect my daughter nor what to do in response.”
Not solely was Lindsay stunned that the lady cared extra to defend her canine than to care about an injured little one, but additionally she was unsure of what kind of remedial motion ought to be taken.
“The employees on the resort gave me ice to placed on my daughter’s arm and a National Trust supervisor stated they might put the incident on their document.
“I didn’t think it was appropriate to go to the police just for a bruise, but it would have been on a whole other scale if the bite had broken the skin.”
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Lindsay confused how “disheartening” it had been to see the proprietor “prioritise the dog” regardless of her daughter’s evident ache.
“My husband had a look around the car park afterwards, but she and her dog had gone. I just wanted to say to her, ‘You can’t always completely control animals, but you need to show humanity’. It was an inhumane response.”
The household has a small Cavapoo themselves and the 40-year-old stated her daughter doesn’t appear to have been too scarred by the incident, although she has complained about her arm hurting and a bruise continues to be seen.
“These animals can do real damage, and our priority should be for the injured person, especially a child. I feel that we’ve been lucky in this instance, but I would love to see empathy and concern prioritised in the wake of our deteriorating society.”
The official steering from Thames Valley Police states that it’s a reportable offence to let a canine be dangerously uncontrolled, both in a public or a non-public area.
A canine is taken into account to be uncontrolled if it injures somebody or makes somebody apprehensive that it’d injure them. Anyone wishing to report a canine attack can name 101 to make a report.”
Amy Goldsworthy, Visitor Operations and Experience Manager on the National Trust stated: “We had been knowledgeable final week of an incident involving a canine and a baby at Cliveden. The wellbeing of our guests is of the very best precedence, and we take any incident reported to us very severely.
“We welcome all well-behaved dogs below the management of accountable house owners so that everybody can take pleasure in a beautiful time out. Our Dog Policy is clearly proven on the entrance web page of our web site together with our definition of ‘close control’.
“However, we will be reviewing on-site signage and ways to increase awareness of safe behaviours around owning and approaching dogs.”
