The owner of a dog who attacked a Metropolitan Police horse, leaving him with several wounds and months of recovery, has pleaded guilty in court and will be sentenced.
Hakan Niyazi Candermir, 25, was walking his dog in Victoria Park, east London, on March 22 when the dog began attacking police horse Urbane, who was on a routine patrol of the park with officers.
Candermir could not control the dog, the Met said, and his pet only stopped the “unprovoked” attack after a bypasser hit the dog multiple times and pulled it away from the horse.
Distressing footage of the attack, which attracted hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok, showed a man jabbing at the dog with a large stick before it bit Urbane’s leg and held on as the horse began to buckle.
The dog, which was not on a lead, was finally pulled away and the officer dismounted before shouting “get that lead on that dog now.”
The dog, reported to be an American XL bully - a breed the Government pledged to ban by the end of the year - was seized by police.
Urbane suffered eight lacerations from dog bits and needed stitches for wounds on his front legs, chest and under belly, prompting a public outcry.
The horse spent around three months recovering at both the Met’s equestrian facility, Imber Court, and then at paddocks with the Horse Trust before being returned to stables in Bow.
In June the Met released videos of Urbane back in Victoria Park “conducting robbery patrols” appearing in good spirits.
Urbane “took it all in his stride”, the Met said, as members of the public pleased with his recovery commented, calling Urbane a “brave boy” and a “beautiful horse”.
PH Urbane back in Victoria Park conducting robbery patrols #lookoutlookup he took it all in his stride 🥰. Please be aware of your belongings, especially mobile phones 🤳 when out ^5053CO pic.twitter.com/7vMYAPbcig
— Met Police Taskforce (@MetTaskforce) June 27, 2023
On Thursday at Willesden Magistrates’ Court Candermir plead guilty to being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control. He will be sentenced at the same court on a later date.
Candermir claimed his American XL bully Coco started mauling the police horse because she was “intimidated” after seeing a horse for the first time in Victoria Park.
He previouly told MailOnline: “My dog has believed the horse is trying to attack it and as a defence mechanism has kind of tried to stick up for itself.
“Because it’s a police horse it has become over-exaggerated.
Superintendent Martin Kirby, from the Met’s Taskforce, said on Friday: “This very shocking event could have been easily avoided if the dog was being responsibly looked after and was on a lead.
“Instead, Urbane was bitten by an out of control dog, receiving nasty injuries including tears and lacerations, while carrying out his duty.”
After no attempt to help during the attack, Candermir only put his dog back on the lead after the bypasser stepped in, the Met said.
Superintendent Kirby continued: “Urbane had to take several months off duty to recover from his injuries but thankfully he’s now fully recovered and back patrolling the streets of London.
“He is generally very comfortable around dogs and we were particularly worried that this attack would affect the way he interacts with other animals. Happily, he’s just as relaxed with dogs as he’s always been.
“Whilst there continues to be noteworthy and sometimes tragic cases of dogs dangerously out of control in public I’m pleased to say that the majority of dog owners are responsible. This case illustrates why always having control of your dog is so important.”
