'Muppet the Storm Doris dog' who was saved by petition two years ago will be put down after further Northampton attack

A dangerous dog who was saved from being put down two years ago after he bit four people during Storm Doris will be destroyed after another attack.

Muppet the Staff-Lurcher cross made national headlines in 2017 when he escaped his garden after a wind storm blew a fence down.

Along with another dog, Phoebe, Muppet went on to bite four people in a panicked state in the Duston and Newton Road area.

However, in the months that followed, a petition gathered 4,700 signatures in a bid to spare Muppet after Northamptonshire Police drew an order to have him put down.

Comments to the police's announcement scolded the force and said it was wrong to punish a "frightened" dog.

His owners, Tina and Jeffrey Penfold, of Clee Rise, were in fact asked to sign the order voluntarily, before it was taken to court.

Then, in February 2018, Wellingborough Magistrate's Court agreed to dismiss the order and that the attack in Storm Doris was "completely out of character for Muppet".

A control order was made that Muppet be muzzled in public and to be secured to prevent escape. He would also have to be controlled while in public.

Now, a fresh court order has ruled Muppet will be put down.In December 2019, the Staffy-Lurcher escaped his home again, along with two other dogs of a similar breed.They attacked another dog on Newton Road and injured a man and his 13-year-old son as they attempted to save their pet.

While trying to get them away, the man and his son suffered scratches and injuries to their hands, including a cut to the boy's thumb.

The wounded pet reportedly required vet care amounting to £1,000 in costs that the owner had to pay for.

Northampton Crown court yesterday (February 16) how owner Tina Penfold had "acted responsibly" in trying to get the dogs away and even called the police.

But the judge ruled he could not spare Muppet.

"I'm not prepared to order the destruction of the other two dogs," said Recorder Mr Patrick Upward. "But I'm afraid Muppet has demonstrated a propensity for aggression once too often.

"In my view, he represents a serious danger to people if left at large."

The court heard a witness statement from a neighbour that Penfold was otherwise "a responsible pet owner", but that the three dogs had escaped in a mishap.

The other two dogs were subject to a control order, similar to what was placed on Muppet initially.

Penfold was also given a conditional discharge for one count of being a person in charge of a dog dangerously out of control, and was ordered to pat £1,500 in compensation to the victim's family.