A 10-year-old boy from Lancashire was mauled by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, after the dog was fed Stella Artois by the uncle of the owner's girlfriend, a court has heard.
Joseph Pickering was bitten in the face and required a skin graft to repair the damage, moments after the dog was given a can of larger to quench its thirst on a hot day in July. The owner's uncle gave the terrier lager because it was panting, after being attacked by another dog on a walk, Burnley magistrates were told.
The boy was attacked after leaning over the garden gate to stroke the dog a witness said.
Diesel, the bull terrier, will not be put down because animal psychologists told the court that the lager was to blame, not the dog himself.
David Gillman, who assessed Diesel, said after the hearing: "If a dog carried out an unprovoked attack on a child, I'd say it should be destroyed, but giving beer to a dog would have effects on its brain".
Pickering's mother Carolann Dickson said it was "disgusting" that the dog will not be put down. "It should be destroyed because of the damage it did to Joe's face," she was quoted as saying.