news, crime

Two bull arab crosses named Shakira and Boost will be put down after they escaped and attacked a pug walking with its owner in Charnwood, a tribunal ordered. It took five adults to end the January attack on Pugley, during which a neighbour who had been enjoying a quiet smoke on his verandah before jumping up to help was wounded on the head. Domestic animal services later seized the two dogs as well as Shakira’s five puppies at their owner’s home. The animal services registrar said neither dog should be returned to their owner; and decided Shakira should be destroyed and Boost should be sold. But the owner’s appeal to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal to save the two dogs has backfired after the registrar changed their position. The tribunal ordered both dogs be destroyed. “Boost was the instigator, but Shakira was an enthusiastic participant. The attack involved a high level of aggression, it was sustained, and took the combined efforts of five adults to bring it to an end.” the tribunal said. The tribunal decision this week follows another very similar in November, in which the tribunal again upheld the registrar’s decision to destroy two killer pig dogs. The two dogs had scaled a two metre fence to kill a German shepherd next door. The tribunal ordered both dogs - also bull arab crosses - be euthanised. In the more recent decision published this week, the tribunal found the attack on Pugley was unprovoked and sustained. Experts said that the pug’s curly tail “deprives a pug of the ability to display a low straight softly wagging tail which indicates friendliness”, the tribunal noted. Tribunal presidential member Mary-Therese Daniel found both Shakira and Boost had a history of escaping the yard and often went to the local school. Neither dog had been desexed - though Boost now was - and the fence was in a bad state of repair when the woman got the two dogs. Boost and Shakira were littermates but Boost was the father of Shakira's five puppies that were also seized. The owner had installed large cages in the backyard, but even then the dogs had escaped about once a month. However she noted there had been no previous reports of any attack. Ms Daniel also found that their owner had failed to train the two dogs, failed to regularly walk them, and she was unsatisfied that she would exercise responsible dog management. While Boost appeared more socialised than Shakira, he too attempts to dominate until corrected, experts said. The tribunal heard the owner a history of complaints against her to domestic animal services - in 2002, 2004, and 2006 - about small fluffy dogs escaping the yard and attacking people. It would not be appropriate to return the dogs to the owner, she found. “I have considered Boost and Shakira’s young ages, and the probably lengthy period over which they would have to be managed so as to avoid any chance of a further attack,” the tribunal wrote. “The conditions on which they would need to be kept are onerous, and over such an extended period there is a greater risk of accidental noncompliance. “These are dogs that are likely to attack again, in a serious manner. It should not be forgotten that it took the combined efforts of five adults to stop their previous attack.” She confirmed the registrar’s decision to destroy Shakira and ordered that Boost be destroyed.

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/f3c4810c-934f-47d1-9551-15adaddd1c55/r0_1053_2166_2277_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg