Eugene Oh, senior partner of solicitors Eugene Oh and Co, and his wife Grace Chin have both been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, a psychological disease more commonly associated with soldiers exposed to extreme conflict, since the death of ``Sha Sha'' in summer of 2000.

His dog was fatally mauled by the two dogs of his former neighbours.

Oh also suffers from coronary heart disease which medical experts say is being affected by his extreme mental condition, Senior Counsel Ruy Barretto told the High Court Monday.

Oh's status as an experienced legal practitioner with a high regard for the law further affected his mental condition after realizing that the dogs would go unpunished for the killing of his beloved pet, his counsel said.

``A dog has special attributes - it has loyalty, returns affection and provides companionship and comfort,'' Barretto said.

Deputy High Court judge Ian Carlson heard on Monday that Oh and his wife were subjected to ``harmful reminders'' of the incident and feared further attacks by the mongrels on their children because the defendants failed to improve control of their dogs.

Barretto claims the neighbors' dogs had become more aggressive because of their ``victory'' over the Shiitsu and their enhanced perception of themselves as lords of their territory.

The Shiitsu was dragged through the bars of a gate and bitten to death by the dogs after it had wondered into the defendants' property while it was having a walk with Chin.

A neighbor had to break into the property armed with a spade in order to recover the fatally wounded dog.

Oh was notified by phone and reconstructed the events in his head after seeing bloodstains around the neighborhood.

Barretto told the court that the imagination can often be worse than reality.

The fact that Oh was convicted in 2002 for common assault and criminal damage for throwing rocks at the mongrels was already a symptom of the ``downward spiral'' in his mental condition, said the counsel.

Defendants Yan Su-zher and his wife Kate Richdale claim they have the right to protect their own premises, especially after they had found illegal immigrants trespassing in the past.

Both parties have since moved from Clear Water Bay Road in Sai Kung. The hearing continues today and is scheduled to last another week.