Q. Will your polygraph examiner in Bradford be able to tell if my neighbour is lying about his dog?
My son was bitten by a dog whilst outside playing the other day. He wasn’t badly injured but when I asked him about the dog he could only tell me it was big, and black and brown coloured. Stuart told me he’d been playing on his bike outside the front of the house when the dog had gotten hold of one of his ankles. It had torn the jeans he was wearing but only grazed the skin. We took him to A&E as we couldn’t remember if he’d had a tetanus jab. It happened on a Saturday and so we couldn’t check with our GP.
Stuart was shaken by the whole thing and now won’t go out by himself. The only dog I know of in the street is a neighbour’s a few doors away. We don’t really speak but I knew he had a German Shepherd. I went over and asked him if his dog had ever bitten anyone and he said no. When I told him what had happened he said the dog wasn’t even at the house that day.
The dog is always at the house, as it barks all day and pretty much all night. I’ve shown Stuart a picture of it and he thinks it is that dog. I’m not trying to get our neighbour’s dog destroyed, just muzzled or a warning given to the owner. I think he’s lying and this could have happened before. I just don’t know what to do. There are many children that play in the street and this has the potential to be disastrous.
S.W., Bradford
Response from Polygraph examiner in Bradford
We have, on rare occasions become involved in cases involving dog ownership but not in relation to dangerous dogs that cause injury.
As a polygraph examiner in Bradford I have to say that it would be difficult to get to the bottom of this with a lie detector test. There are too many variables here. For example, the dog may have been elsewhere and made its own way home. Or it may have been at the owner’s house and escaped without the owner’s knowledge.
A lie detector test could prove whether or not the dog had bitten anyone else providing the owner knows about it. However, the chances of him agreeing to take a test are close to zero. The results would likely lead to further investigation thereby incriminating him.
You say that your son thinks it is the dog that bit him. That wouldn’t be good enough for a prosecution if you involve the RSPCA or police.
My advice would be to contact the RSPCA or the police to have a word with the owner to make sure his dog isn’t able to escape. Usually a word of warning is sufficient.
I hope your son recovers from the trauma soon.
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If you would like to ask our polygraph examiner in Bradford if a lie detector test would help your situation, drop us a line or call us on our free helpline – 07572 748364.
