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Aneisha Brown has been walking with a limp since November 2018 when she was bitten by a dog on the compound of the Elletson Road Police Station.

Two sisters were bitten on the same compound on Monday. Brown still has a huge scar and swelling above her right heel, but is yet to be compensated.

She sought the assistance of the public defender, who contacted the police station for a copy of her statement, but it could not be located.

"I went in and give another statement again and nothing at all mi nuh see a come outta it. Mi use out every money mi have travelling back and forth. Fi a while mi couldn't walk so mi had to even pay someone to lift mi up because is upstairs mi live. Mi spend out and can't get back anything. I want to know who is responsible because somebody must own di dog," she said.

Brown said that on the day of the attack, she went to use the ATM machine on the station compound.

Have to be careful

"The dog blaze from over the traffic division and grabbed me at the back of mi foot and start draw mi and mi have to swing outta him mouth and run and start cry out. Mi drop, and is a civilian come help mi up. Everybody just have to be careful when dem a venture deh so," she said. Brown said she was later transported to the Kingston Public Hospital by a cop.

"Mi shame a the foot, so because a that mi have to wear bare jeans pants. The doctor dem say mi need to do all plastic surgery. At a point in time I had to be using a wheelchair and was walking with crutches," she said. Brown said the injury even impacted her restaurant.

"The people dem say dem nah buy nutten because mi have sore foot so because a dat mi business mash up. Mi never bother do the plastic surgery because the doctor did say I may have to walk with the crutch stick again, and mi never waa do that because it put pressure on mi knee when mi walk with it," she said.

Arlene Harrison Henry, the public defender, said that while she does not know the full details surrounding Brown's incident, generally, a police station is deemed a public place.

"There is an expectation that those responsible for the establishment will keep the place in a manner where the public can visit the compound and do their business and be protected," she said. "Routinely, we have observed that when dogs come on police station compounds, officers feed the dogs, and the law is that where we keep and care and harbour the dogs, officers at the station can be deemed to be owner of such dogs at the time when the injury to the complainant was committed."

She added, "They allow the dogs to be kept on the compound and permit them to remain on the compound. The main point is that stations need to be safe for the public to traverse it without being bitten by a dog." In July, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck proposed a new Dogs (Liability for Injuries By) Act. Under the new bill, dog owners would be held liable for injuries sustained by members of the public. Under the new bill, a dog owner would be defined as someone who occupies a premises where the dog is kept, or who caused the dog to be in a public space where the injury occurred.