XL bully victim’s injuries were ‘worst doctor had ever seen’
A father of five killed by an XL bully dog had the worst injuries a trauma doctor had ever seen, an inquest heard.
Jonathan Hogg, 37, a floor layer, was looking after a friend’s two dogs when a male dog called Poseidon attacked him after he entered its pen.
He ended up lying face down with the dog on top of him, biting his scalp and the back of his neck in an attack that lasted 10-15 minutes until he became unconscious, Bolton coroner’s court heard.
He went into cardiac arrest and suffered catastrophic blood loss. He was pronounced dead at Salford Royal Hospital at 2.05am on May 19 last year.
Dr Matthew Muldoon, who was on duty at the hospital, said Mr Hogg’s injuries were the “single worst trauma case” he’d seen in his 10-year career.
The attack was witnessed by Jordan Broxan, who owned the premises where Poseidon and a female XL bully called Pandora were being kept. He told the court it “escalated very quickly” and he heard Mr Hogg shouting: “Poseidon, what are you doing?”
Mr Hogg, from Hindley, Wigan, made repeated attempts to get away from the dog while Mr Broxan tried to distract the animal by throwing food and objects at it.
Mr Broxan said: “Hoggy had come out of the caravan to see what the dogs were barking at. They both knew him and were comfortable around him.
“To begin with, Poseidon was jumping up at Mr Hogg playfully. But then the dog showed some form of aggression towards Hoggy and started tugging the sleeve of his jacket.”
The inquest heard that the week before the fatal attack, the RSPCA visited the house of William Bates, who owned the dogs, over animal welfare concerns.
At the property in Tyldesley, Wigan, the inspector discovered 19 dogs, including 13 puppies and six adult XL bullies, among them Poseidon
A welfare notice was issued to Mr Bates over the “sub-optimal” conditions the inspector found the dogs to be living in.
Giving evidence, Mr Bates, a mobile car valeter, said he had known Mr Hogg for all of his life and he was more like a brother to him than a friend.
He also told the coroner that he had “fallen in love with” the XL bully breed, and he had acquired dogs from both the US and Ukraine.
Mr Bates said: “I was trying to better the breed and produce show quality, champion XL bullies.”
Questioned by Michael Pemberton, the coroner, Mr Bates denied he was using his home for the breeding or selling of dogs.
Mr Bates said: “There’s not a minute when I don’t think about what’s happened. I still miss Johnny, it doesn’t seem real.”
Dog destroyed soon after fatal attack
Following the attack, Mr Bates was arrested and a criminal investigation was launched, but no further action was taken by police. The dog was destroyed after the attack.
A post mortem examination determined Mr Hogg’s cause of death was head and neck injuries as a result of dog bites.
Mr Pemberton returned a narrative conclusion, saying Mr Hogg died as a result of an unforeseen, unexpected and sustained attack by an American XL bully-type dog.
He said: “It’s clear Johnny was a much-loved father, brother and son who will be missed terribly following the unexpected events of that evening.
“This is a stark reminder that however people may be familiar with animals, things can change very rapidly. Johnny was in an environment he was familiar with and one he chose to be in.”
