A “fearless” two-year-old boy died after he was mauled by a Rottweiler kept by his dog breeder grandmother when he opened a gate into a field where the animals were playing, an inquest has heard.
Lawson Bond sustained serious neck injuries and went into cardiac arrest when he was attacked at the cottage in Egdon, Worcestershire, on 28 March 2022 and later died in hospital.
An inquest into the toddler’s death at Worcestershire Coroners’ Court heard Lawson was found lying injured in a field next to the family home which was used to exercise the dogs his grandmother, Maria Bond, kept in kennels at the property.
Mrs Bond had bred and sold puppies for around 30 years – though she did not have a licence to do so.
The inquest heard the grandmother was cleaning out the kennels of three female dogs and had let them into the adjoining field she rented so they could exercise and play while she worked on their cages.
She told the senior coroner for Worcestershire, David Reid, she had gone back inside the cottage briefly to go to the toilet and when she came back out she noticed the wooden gate between the family’s back garden and the dog kennels, which was usually secured with a metal chain, was open and Lawson was not there.
She said: “At first I thought ‘that little b****r has gone into the field’, so I shouted his name and I went up to get him back in.
“He was laying face down and I couldn’t see any of the dogs. I panicked, I grabbed him, picked him up and screamed.”
Lawson was initially taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital for emergency surgery and then transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital’s paediatrics intensive care unit.
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Despite surgery, Lawson suffered seizures and the damage to his brain was getting progressively worse before he died on the morning of 30 March 2022.
A post-mortem examination found Lawson had multiple serious injuries, including to his head, chest and neck, including a wound to his left internal carotid artery, which had been repaired during surgery.
His cause of death was recorded as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, a type of brain damage, and laceration to the left internal carotid artery as a result of dog mauling.
The three female dogs – one of which had blood on its face – were still in the field when West Mercia Police officers arrived at the cottage and were put down on 7 April 2022.
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Dogs were ‘calm and well behaved’
Coroner Mr Reid said while he had no reason to believe Mrs Bond not having a breeding licence contributed to her grandson’s death, he would be writing a Prevention of Future Deaths report to Wychavon District Council because he was concerned they are not being proactive enough in finding “unscrupulous” breeders in their area.
He said: “All three dogs were said to be calm and well behaved. There is no evidence that provides any connection between Mrs Bond being unlicensed and Lawson’s death and there is no evidence that the way they were looked after contributed to his death.
“The impression that their vet had was that they were healthy with no signs of negligence.
“There are two possibilities, one being that Lawson opened the gate, or that Mrs Bond left the gate unsecured when she went inside to use the toilet.
“Her clear recollection was that she secured the gate and I have no reason to doubt that. It seems that Lawson did manage to climb the gate and lift the chain over the gate post.”
The coroner recorded Lawson’s death as misadventure.
‘Nothing would faze him’
Speaking about his son at the inquest, a tearful Mr Bond said Lawson was an “energetic” child and “nothing would faze him”.
He said: “He couldn’t wait to get up in the morning. Everything I did, he wanted to do as well.
“He was fearless and would want to be out and doing what I was doing, whether that was cleaning the kennels or hoovering.
“The three dogs, they used to sit there and lick his face. He did have contact with all the dogs but I would never, ever leave him alone with them, not that I ever had that worry about them.”
