A dog owner is devastated after an expensive two-year legal battle failed to save the life of the pet she loved like a child.
David Lowe says his partner, former Queenstown resident Marta Uhlig, has been "changed forever" by the destruction of her 5-year-old American Staffordshire terrier, Milo, last month.
The destruction order, made in the Queenstown District Court in March, was carried out at the couple’s Tauranga home on July 18 after an unsuccessful appeal in the High Court.
Mr Lowe said his partner, now recuperating with family and friends in her native Hungary, had given him permission to tell her side of the story.
She was aggrieved by what she regarded as an unjust legal outcome, and seeing her gentle-natured dog portrayed as dangerous after the incident on January 10, 2022.
The two-year legal process, and her fight to keep Milo alive in the past few months, had a major impact on her mental health.
She had been unable to work for the past six months, and was being treated for depression.
"Marta loved him so much.
"She took amazing care of him and it showed in his nature — he was a kind soul.
"He wasn’t aggressive or confrontational."
She had spent all her savings, amounting to tens of thousands of dollars, on a legal fight to overturn the destruction order.
Having Milo put down was a "deeply painful experience".
The couple, who moved to Tauranga in December, arranged for a vet to come to their home rather than let Milo die in unfamiliar surroundings.
"We took him for a big walk, a big play on the beach, and then we brought him home.
"He was wet, so we sat in the sun and cuddled him.
"Then the vet came over and injected him."
Milo had paid the price for a "human error" by Ms Uhlig’s friend, Tomas Braeuer, who had been walking Milo at the time of the incident.
Aware of tension between Milo and Max, a short-haired pointer that lived next door, she had told Mr Braeuer to keep Milo on a lead in case the dogs crossed paths.
However, he did not follow her instructions, letting Milo and his own dog, Lincoln, off their leads on a walking track leading to the Kawarau River.
When they encountered the complainant with Max and another dog, Lincoln and Max began fighting.
In an affidavit that formed the basis of the council prosecution, the complainant said he and Mr Braeuer were able to bring Lincoln and Max under control, but as he held Max by the collar in order to put his lead on, Milo lunged at Max and bit the complainant’s hand and wrist.
The bites caused three deep cuts — exposing an artery and causing tendon damage — that required surgery and forced the complainant to take nearly two months off work.
Mr Lowe said although his partner felt sympathy for the complainant, she thought it was unfair the council had relied solely on his evidence.
In her opinion, the complainant had acted recklessly by putting his hand between quarrelling dogs.
At March’s court hearing, Judge Michelle Duggan convicted Mr Braeuer of "owning a dog that attacked a person" — because he was responsible for Milo at the time — and ordered him to pay the complainant nearly $5000 in reparation.
Because a conviction was entered, Judge Duggan was required by law to make the destruction order for Milo.
A counter argument by Ms Uhlig’s lawyer on the grounds of "exceptional circumstances" — that Mr Braeuer ignored her instructions and Milo had bitten the complainant inadvertently — was rejected by the judge.
