A COURT case to decide the fate of a dog accused of biting two people has been adjourned so he can be assessed by a psychologist.

The fate of three-year-old Duke is now in the hands of a judge and it is up to a dog psychologist to decide if the animal is a danger to the public and should be put to sleep.

Duke, who sank his teeth into two men and went for a woman clutching a tiny Shitsu called Buttons in her arms, received the possible death sentence yesterday at Burnley Crown Court.

The court heard how the dog had not offended since the night it attacked.

Duke's Stephen Meadway, 44, was convicted by a jury of the dog being dangerously out of control in a public place and injury being caused to Peter Anforth, a Clarets cash collector.

Mr Anforth and a neighbour of the defendant Alan Gownes were both bitten by Duke last April -- but grandfather of seven Meadway claims the Alsation is very placid and had been provoked.

He said after the hearing he would be 'gutted', if Duke was put down and he was very disappointed in the jury's verdict.

Meadway, who also owns a mongrel at his Moorview Close, Briercliffe home, has owned Duke for about 18 months after his partner Valerie Smith gave it him as a birthday present.

The animal had been left tied in a back yard in Nelson and was given a home by the defendant and his girlfriend as no-on else coule afford to home it.

The defendant said on the day of the offence, Duke had got out of the house and he believed the dog had been hit with a bat or stick. He said the animal was 'wound up', and went for anybody who went towards him.

Meadway, a dye caster, said he took Duke out twice every day and his grandchildren played with the dog, tied it up and did 'all sorts' to it, without any problems.

The court had been told how Mr Anforth, on an evening round on Moorview Close, suffered an injury to his left arm after he was attacked by Duke.

Mr Gownes was also bitten and later Celia Holgate, with her pet Buttons, was circled by Duke who bit her coat as she picked Buttons up.

After the jury returned its verdict, Philip Holden, defending, said Duke would have to be destroyed unless it could be proved it was not a danger to the public.

He asked that the case be adjourned so that a canine behavioural expert could be instructed to look at the Alsation and make a report.