A court has granted a temporary stay on an order to have a dog belonging to a Co Roscommon man put down, the Roscommon Herald reports.
Donal Rogers and his dog Kim made headlines earlier this year when a district court judge ordered for the Jack Russell terrier to be put down, following an application made by Breid Greene.
Ms Greene was bitten by the Jack Russell when she was walking close to the entrance of Mr Rogers' property with her husband on March 6th, 2022.
Sitting at Athlone courthouse, Judge Karen Fergus agreed to place a temporary stay on the order if Mr Rogers fulfilled a number of conditions.
She directed Mr Rogers, an ex-garda, to build a fence around his property in Bumlin, Strokestown, Co Roscommon, and pay Ms Greene €5,000 in compensation. Mr Rogers was also ordered to pay the complainant €1,500 in legal fees.
If these conditions were met, Judge Fergus said, she would consider a more permanent stay on the order.
During the hearing, Judge Fergus criticised "vile" online abuse suffered by Ms Greene following intense public scrutiny of the case.
The court heard that Ms Greene required hospital treatment following the dog bite, and needed eight sutures to treat the wound.
The judge described the injury as a "serious bite".
The complainant had been consistent in her evidence, the judge noted, maintaining that she does not want any other person to endure what she went through.
Judge Fergus was also critical of Mr Rogers' participation in media interviews, which, she said, did not give an accurate representation of the case before the court.
A public appeal to "Save Kim" also went viral, resulting in over 170,000 people signing a petition in favour of quashing the court order.
Following Judge Fergus' ruling, counsel for Mr Rogers said that the 85-year-old man would give an undertaking not to partake in any more media interviews.
The case was adjourned until November 15th.
