Ross Hudson: Bass man pleads guilty over dog attacks

A Bass man laughed as his three dogs viciously attacked a support worker, leaving her with serious injuries, a court has heard.

Ross Hudson pleaded guilty at Wonthaggi Magistrates’ Court after his dogs were involved in incidents. Picture: Generic

A Bass man laughed at a support worker as she tried to escape the man’s dogs after she was viciously attacked and left with serious injuries.

Ross Hudson pleaded guilty at Wonthaggi Magistrates’ Court on October 1 to charges including dog attack causing serious injury, not registering a dog, failing to muzzle a dog and not securely confining a dog to the premises of its owner.

The court heard a support worker was ambushed by Hudson’s maremma dogs when she visited his Bass property on February 24, 2020.

One dog barked aggressively at the woman and pushed her into a fence.

Two other dogs ran over and all three attacked her, biting the woman on the thigh, shoulder and bum.

The woman climbed on the roof of Hudson’s car and the dogs followed.

Hudson laughed and told her to calm down.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said she had nightmares of the incident.

“These are disturbing and violent (dreams) of dogs cornering me and biting into me,” she said.

“I can feel the pain in my dreams.”

The woman said she felt depressed, anxious and had “lost control” of her life.

“I have lost trust in people and my workplace since the attack and I feel very on guard all of the time,” she said.

The woman said she hadn’t returned to work and saw a psychologist to help deal with the trauma.

Hudson’s dalmatian dog, which was classified as “menacing” by Bass Coast Shire Council, was also involved in a separate incident.

The court heard the dog escaped from Hudson’s car in Port Franklin on March 16.

The dog violently attacked a miniature dachshund, dislocating its spine and resulting in it being put down.

Hudson didn’t contact police or South Gippsland Shire Council to report the attack.

The man who owned the miniature dachshund said his dog was his “best mate”.

“He looked out for me for security and I feel like I have let him down,” he said in a victim impact statement.

“I now wake up in the middle of the night with nightmares of a large dog bearing down on us.”

The man said he was an ambulance officer for 10 years and hadn’t see anything as “ferocious and terrifying” as this incident.

Hudson’s lawyer said the father of four was embarrassed and accepted “total responsibility”.

“There was a great deal going on in my clients life but very little of it was positive.”

Hudson’s lawyer said the man didn’t mean to laugh at the woman.

Hudson will return to court at a later date.

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