A WINCHESTER man died after his dog accidentally ‘bit’ him, an inquest heard.

Ken McCall, 84, of Ashley Close, Harestock, died after a wound to his right wrist became septic and he passed away in hospital several days later, Winchester Coroner’s court was told.

The retired carpenter, who climbed Everest base camp in 2005 for Hearing Dogs for the Deaf, had been playing with his 16-month-old female Springer Spaniel.

His widow, Christina McCall, told the hearing: “He was playing tug of war with her like he normally did and the rope that he had was quite short, he was holding it and I said something to him. In a moment of inattention her head went in and cut the back of his hand with her tooth.”

“He said ‘oh dear’.”

She treated the wound but Mr McCall became unwell the following day, the inquest heard.

Although the injury was formally recorded as a ‘bite’, the family insisted the wound was an accidental scratch from the dog’s tooth.

The hearing was told how Mrs McCall took her husband to the out of hours service two days later on November 14, where doctors said he had symptoms of a urinary tract infection and he was prescribed antibiotics.

They said the wound on his right wrist appeared to be “healing nicely”, Mrs McCall said.

The inquest heard his symptoms became more severe and he was admitted to Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester on November 15, where he died three days later.

Mrs McCall described the dog, which she still owns, as friendly. She added: “She is very lively and excitable but a very gentle dog and very good, she did as she was told.”

Pathologist Dr Balvinder Shoker described the wound as a 2cm long cut which was not deep.

Dr Shoker, said: “The dog’s saliva went into the bloodstream and the bacteria that was found in the blood would have started damaging the various organs.”

He noted that this was unusual, but said age may have made him vulnerable to infection.

Dr Shoker gave the cause of death as multi-organ failure as a result of septicaemia which was caused by the bite. Senior coroner Grahame Short recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Mr Short said: “On the evening of the 12th of November he was at home with his dog and he was holding one end of the a rope and the dog was holding the other end and sometimes these things happen and as he moved the dog caught the back of his hand with her teeth, and I fully accept that it was not a deliberate bite, but a bite is a wound caused by the teeth of an animal or a person.”