Appeal to locate dog owner after child ‘bitten in face’ at Malahide Castle

A mum has appealed to the public for help with locating a dog owner after her young son was bitten in the face at Malahide Castle two weeks ago.

Sarah, from North County Dublin, was on the grassy knoll watching Rag’N’Bone man before the Shania Twain concert on Friday 28th June at around 7.50 pm. She was seated at the railings, behind the hill before the turn into the car park, while her seven-year-old son was playing on the hill.

Speaking to Dublin Live, Sarah said her son ran to her after being bitten by a dog and suffered injuries on his face and arm. She is hoping to locate the owner of the dog and is appealing to anyone in the area that night who may have witnessed the incident to come forward.

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“When he ran over to me he was bawling crying, with blood pouring down his face and saying a dog bit him,” she said. “There were teeth marks on his cheek.”

Sarah said her first thought was to run to the medical tent to get help. “Security were brilliant in swiftly getting us through the crowds to the medical tent,” she said. “As you can imagine the concert goers were horrified.”

She praised the team at the Code Blue medical tent at Malahide Castle who helped her son following the incident. “They cleaned him up, gave him Calpol and wrote a prescription for antibiotics which I sent to my partner to make the pharmacy before it closed.

“The nurse on duty that evening has since contacted me and said she “would see a lot of dog bites but not at a concert, it was the last thing we expected to see that day”.”

Sarah said the team at the Code Blue medical tent gave her son a referral and they went to Connolly Hospital the next morning who contacted plastics in Temple Street. On Sunday morning, they had an appointment to see a plastic surgeon.

She has since reported the incident to Gardai, Fingal County Council, and a number of elected representatives. “That night there were many dogs off leads freely walking about with young kids and toddlers playing on the grass which was uncomfortable to watch,” she said.

Sarah explained that there was a post with four cameras beside where they were but nothing was captured because it was blocked by a tree. “Unfortunately, I learned today the CCTV footage is now a dead end but as the Gardai in Malahide Station said, I have started the conversation going between all parties involved,” she said.

She added that she is “not out to punish a dog, it’s the irresponsible dog owner”. Sarah said: “I have two dogs myself and it’s not the dog’s fault, it’s the owners fault. If the dog is aggressive it should have a muzzle on it.

“I’ve heard of dogs attacking other dogs at Malahide Castle but this is the first time, it seems, that a child has been attacked and bitten in the face.”

Sarah added that she has been “walking my dogs in Malahide castle, but also St Anne Park, Santry and Fairview Park for nine years and have never seen a dog warden.”

Sarah said her son described the dog as “brown, like a sausage dog with thick hair and with a man in a black coat or jacket”. She said: “He said he asked the man if he could pet his dog and the dog jumped up and bit him on the face.”

“I would like to thank all the medics in Code Blue, Connolly Hospital and Temple Street, Cllr Luke Corkery, Louise O’Reilly TD, Duncan Smith, Alan Farrell for their support and concern for my son, and everyone I contacted in Fingal County Council including the environmental section who have contacted the control of dogs.”

Sarah said she would especially like to thank Minister Darragh O’Brien for his help and for being so proactive following the incident.

“I want to stress that it’s not the dog’s fault, it’s the owner here. I just want to see if it has jogged anyone’s memory or if anyone has remembered anything.”

Sarah said her son is healing up well. “It will take about a year to properly heal as they had to cut open his wound to clean it out thoroughly,” she said. “Thankfully they did not have to put him under but could use gas and numbing for the procedure.

“Thankfully he still loves dogs but says that he never wants to go to another concert again!”

A garda spokeswoman told Dublin Live: “Gardaí received report of an alleged incident involving a dog in Malahide, Co. Dublin on Friday 28th June 2024. No offences were disclosed.”

Sarah asked that anyone with information gets in touch with Malahide Garda Station.

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