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The family of a grandmother whose finger was bitten off in a dog attack has accused police of failing to take the matter seriously after they told her the animal was “friendly”.
Birmingham resident Annette Tonyin, 61, was attacked while walking her own dog on 30 April which resulted in the loss of part of her left index finger.
Ms Tonyin claimed she had tried to avoid the aggressive dog by crossing the road but it proceeded to attack her, while its owner “did nothing”.
Two weeks on and her family claim they have had to chase police for updates and officers have not visited Ms Tonyin to obtain a statement about the attack.
The family also claims that police told them the attacking dog had been assessed and was found to “have a friendly disposition”.
Ms Tonyin’s daughter, Folake Adoti-Ryan, criticised the police’s “negligent” response to the incident.
“The guidelines are clear on what should happen if a dog is not controlled and attacked,” Ms Adoti-Ryan, 39, told The Independent. “There’s been no effective response from the police, just silence. I have a mother who’s traumatised; she’s lost her finger. It’s not going to grow back.”
Ms Tonyin’s family say they are worried the case is not being taken seriously because she’s Black and felt that the attacker dog’s owner, a white woman, was not being held accountable due to her ethnicity. West Midlands Police did not respond to The Independent’s questions about this.
The family said they were alarmed to learn that one of the police officers involved claimed to have “tried to take a statement” from Ms Tonyin during a brief phone interaction on Friday 5 May but said she was unsuccessful because “she couldn’t understand” what Ms Tonyin was saying due to her “thick” Nigerian accent.
The family disputes that such an attempt took place and clarified that Ms Tonyin, who has lived in the UK for 30 years, has had multiple customer-facing job roles across decades and had never experienced issues communicating with others in English.
“If this happened to an older, middle-class, white English woman, I think the police would be taking it a lot more seriously,” her worried daughter added.
“Moreover, if the owner of the dog had been a Black or brown man, I’m sure charges would be pressed by now. These are pressable charges and the owner of a dog who mounts an attack like this can go to prison for six months.
“The negligence has been astounding.”
The victim’s family said they have gone out of their way to prompt the police to investigate and have called most days for updates. They have now complained to their local MP Steve McCabe.
Black people have significantly lower than average rates of confidence in their police force, according to official statistics by 64 per cent compared with an average of 74 per cent overall. West Midlands Police’s former chief has previously apologised to Black people for the force’s failings on race.
Despite there being multiple witnesses to the incident, including an off-duty police officer, the dog’s owner has not been arrested or questioned over the attack, the family says. They are now concerned that the dog could harm someone else.
“Mum has gone from being someone who goes for walks with the dog every day to becoming more reclusive; she didn’t leave the house for two weeks after the attack,” Ms Tonyin’s daughter added.
“There have been times when I’ve gone to her room and found her crying. The fact that the police haven’t come to see her, the dog is still around, and the owner didn’t apologise or care about the attack on her - just whether or not their dog was okay - has only added to her pain.
“Seeing a stub where her finger used to be has been messed up and it will take a lot of getting used to.”
West Midlands Police told The Independent that officers from the dangerous dogs unit assessed the dog after the incident.
“Following the assessment, the dogs, who are not a banned breed, have been allowed to stay with their owners with strict conditions,” a spokesperson said.
A lone dog launched the attack and the police have been asked which “dogs” they’re referring to.
Following enquiries from The Independent, West Midlands Police said officers were investigating the matter and have now contacted Ms Tonyin to arrange to take a statement in person.
Police are also appealing to any witnesses or anyone who was in the area at the time of the incident to contact them with information by calling 101 and quoting crime number 20/390247/23.
The number of dog attacks recorded in the West Midlands has risen by 66 per cent from 2018 to 2022, recent figures show.
