IPSWICH: Brandy may weigh in at 16st but he is a loveable pet who has never bitten or growled at anyone, claims his owner.

“Everybody falls in love with him but the trouble is he is just so big,” said David Angell, following his court appearance yesterday.

Angell, 72, of Iris Close, Ipswich, pleaded guilty at Ipswich Magistrates’ Court to allowing his dog to be dangerously out of control and failing to comply with a dog order.

The court heard that Brandy leapt up at a young girl in Gippeswyk Park, Ipswich, last month and knocked her to the ground.

Gareth Davies, prosecuting, said: “The mother asked if it was OK for the child to stroke the dog and as she did the dog knocked her to the ground.

“He stood astride the child and was growling.”

The girl suffered grazes as a result of the fall, for which Angell apologised, but he disputed the fact the dog growled at her.

After the hearing he said: “There isn’t one person that can honestly say he has bitten them, barked at them or growled at them.

“This was just a pure accident. He stood up on his back legs because he thought she had something in her hand.

“When you have got a 16st lump like that standing up against you it is going to take some stopping.”

He added: “Lots of the children on the park love playing with him and there is a two-year-old boy at the allotments who tries to ride on his back like you would a horse.”

Four-year-old Brandy is a South African Rottweiler, of which there are only a handful in Europe.

He is supposed to be muzzled and kept on a lead whenever he is a public area, an order made following a previous hearing at Ipswich Magistrates’ Court.

On May 1, 2008 he leapt on a woman while she was walking her own dog in Gippeswyk Park and a week later he pounced on a couple who were putting up a tent in the park.

In a third incident, a park supervisor claims he was bitten on the arm.

Angell has been trying to get the order revoked, as he believes the dog does not need a muzzle but has been unable to establish who is responsible for this.

Instead, he took the decision to leave the muzzle off and also allowed the dog off lead.

“It was stupid, I should have put him on the lead,” he said.

The judge explained that he was looking at a community order as opposed to imprisonment and did not believe the dog should be destroyed.

Angell, who is retired, said: “I am very fit, I can still do the can-can and so I can do some work.”

He was ordered to carry out 40 hours of unpaid work over the next year, told to pay �50 in compensation to the victim and contribute �35 towards costs.

Judge Cooper warned: “You must keep your dog under control.”