An Arrowtown couple whose Staffordshire bull terriers allegedly attacked a Siberian husky have successfully appealed their dogs’ menacing classification.
The couple asked the three-person panel to rescind the classification for Baxter and his mother, Jazz, arguing they were well trained, obedient and had never been in a fight before.
The classification requires the dogs to be muzzled whenever they are off their property.
In a written report by the council’s animal control team, the husky’s owner said Baxter had rushed and ‘‘latched on’’ to her dog before Jazz joined in the attack.
They had shaken and bitten her dog repeatedly, continuing even as she tried to kick them away.
Her dog sustained wounds, swelling and ‘‘skin separation’’ on different parts of its body.
The report said an independent witness heard the incident and looked over to see ‘‘Staffy dogs’’ circling the husky and its owner.
He ran over and grabbed one of them, while the other returned to Mrs Bartlett, who had been walking the dogs at the time.
She told the panel Baxter had approached the husky in a typically friendly manner.
She did not see which dog had ‘‘struck’’ first because she was momentarily dealing with Jazz, but heard an ‘‘aggressive’’ bark from the husky.
Paul Bartlett said they had been dog owners in the township for 25 years and knew the Staffordshire bull terrier breed well from breeding and showing them around the country.
It was one of the world’s most popular breeds and recognised for being good around children.
The classification, which had arisen from an account they disputed, would have a major effect on their dogs’ lives, he said.
Wearing muzzles was like having ‘‘a cage around their face’’ and they would need to be taken to private rural properties in order to run freely.
In the panel’s decision, released this week, chairman Lyal Cocks said it was encouraged by the steps the Bartletts had taken to prevent another altercation, including the use of electric training collars and greater discretion in their choice of outdoor exercising locations.
Noting the Dog Control Act was ‘‘very prescriptive’’ and did not give the panel any alternative but upholding or rescinding the classification, it was satisfied the latter course was appropriate for Baxter and Jazz in this case.
However, the dogs ‘‘now have a record’’ and were very unlikely to be successful in a future appeal, Mr Cocks said.
In a separate decision by a dog control committee panel, another Staffordshire bull terrier responsible for a dog-on-dog attack has had its classification upheld.
The attack, which happened only two days after the Arrow-town incident, occurred after the dog, Lucy, ran out the open door of its owner’s Hanleys Farm home.
The report by the animal control team said Lucy then attacked a collie, Rue, in Barn Rd about 5pm.
After circling Rue, Lucy bit her ‘‘aggressively’’ on the throat.
The collie sustained a throat wound that required veterinary treatment, while the woman walking Rue suffered a minor finger injury as she tried to separate the dogs.
Lucy’s owner, Immogen Grice, told the panel at an appeal hearing last month her dog had never been aggressive before.
No issues were identified in a behavioural evaluation and several obedience training sessions after the attack.
Although she had not witnessed the incident, she was challenging the classification because no evidence was provided by the council about how it started, Ms Grice said.
The escape was a ‘‘freak accident’’, caused by a faulty front door, which would not happen again.
Since the attack, Lucy had been socialising with other dogs without any incident and was always exuberant and playful around other dogs.
Ms Grice said she had a dog walking business and had taken her own dogs walking with others without incident.
In its decision, the panel said it was particularly concerned the attack was aimed at Rue’s throat, with the injuries including puncture wounds to the neck, despite the victim’s thick coat.
‘‘The owner of Lucy has received a harsh reminder regarding the need to keep her domestic family pet dogs under control and not approach and interact with other dogs at will.’’
