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Council
seizes dog under DDA
COUNCIL
OFFICIALS seized a Staffordshire Bull terrier/Rhodesian Ridgeback
cross as a pit bull ‘type’ dog under the 1991 Dangerous
Dogs Act after it escaped from its owner’s home during
an attempted break-in.
Crossbreed Al is owned by Eileen Thornhill, 23 and has never
been in any kind of trouble before. The dog escaped, along with
Miss Thornhill’s other dog during an attempted break-in
two weeks ago when neighbours smashed a lock on the garden gate,
unaware that the two dogs were on the other side. The burglars
escaped and a neighbour, hearing the commotion, managed to grab
the other dog, but Al, who was not wearing a collar, escaped,
and was later captured by a Nottingham City Council dog warden.
The dog warden decided that Al was an unregistered, illegal
pit bull ‘type’ dog and refused to release him to
Miss Thornhill. The dog is being held at council kennels until
a determination on his type has been made and whether or not
charges may be brought against Miss Thornhill under Section
One of the DDA.
Vet Alison Jane Morris Robson has already examined Al. The vet
has pronounced Al to be a pit bull type. Miss Morris Robson
was recently featured in a BBC documentary on dangerous dogs,
bemoaning the fact that the police make very few DDA prosecutions
nowadays due to lack of resources.
Miss Thornhill is seeking help via the Fury Defence Fund to
have Al examined by her own expert witness.
As yet, she has not been allowed to see her dog, although she
was offered the chance to sit in a car and watch the dog be
walked past her.
Juliette Glass of the FDF confirmed that the organisation was
helping Miss Thornhill in the matter.
‘When I spoke to the council’s solicitor, he seemed
extremely vague as to the definitions of which dogs were covered
by the Act,’ Mrs Glass told OUR DOGS. ‘ I suggested
he contact solicitor Trevor Cooper for advice, as he didn’t
seem to understand much of the Act’s workings.’
A spokesman for Nottingham City Council meanwhile said that
the matter was still under investigation.
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