Onkaparinga Council snubs Snuffy the St Bernard

Snuffy the St Bernard spent years helping victims of crime before his tragic death. Now his owner has been left heartbroken after he was denied a prized honour.

Snuffy the St Bernard was so valued he was given the run of Adelaide courts by authorities, so he could comfort victims fearful of appearing before their tormentors.

His carer career only ended in February this year when he died of cancer aged 8, after helping court attendees, as well as the terminally ill, children who had suffered from domestic violence and the elderly.

Onkaparinga Council, unmoved by his contribution, has posthumously snubbed his years of service.

Councillor Alayna de Graaf is seeking recognition for Snuffy as a hero of the southern suburbs, where he mainly worked at local courts, nursing homes and disability centres.

The first step in the process was rejected by the council at this month’s meeting.

Ms de Graaf said the recognition should have been a formality, given the official recognition of the dog by the Courts Administration Authority.

Sandy Edwards with her St Bernard dog, Lilly. Onkaparinga Council has snubbed her previous dog, Snuffy the carer dog, rejecting honours for him in Adelaide. Picture: Morgan Sette

In a letter dated 2019, Snuffy was given approval as an “assistance animal” to be allowed to work in “any courts building under the control of the Courts Administration Authority”.

The letter says key staff had been told to expect Snuffy and to allow his work in court buildings with victims.

Ms de Graaf moved at the meeting that the council have one minute of silence to honour snuffy and recognise his efforts in the official minutes.

“Just like an important person is honoured by our community, I would like to propose this is observed in this unique and rare case,’’ she said.

“Snuffy was a one of a kind, he was an important part of our community who will be sorely missed.”

Ms de Graaf is the local councillor for the dog’s owner, Sandy Edwards, of Morphett Vale.

As a double-amputee and wheelchair-bound person, Ms Edwards felt the snub compounded the sense of loss she suffered after Snuffy’s death.

Snuffy the carer dog, sadly now not with us, with one of his daughters. Picture: Supplied.

In tears, Ms Edwards told The Advertiser the council decision was hard to believe.

“I can't even watch the council debate, I have only recently lost him and I am so upset,’’ she said.

“It was such a small thing to do.

“He was a very special dog. He got disabled kids to dance with him and he got a lady in a nursing home to speak to him after she hadn’t spoken for seven years.”

A council spokesman said that without a seconder for the motion, the matter was between councillors.

Onkaparinga councillor Geoff Eaton spoke against honouring Snuffy, and said the council should investigate the value of his work.

Speaking at the council meeting he questioned the value of the Courts Administration Authority approval letter and said “very senior people” he had spoken to in victims groups had not heard of Snuffy.

The fight comes as the council seeks to toughen powers it has over dog owners.

Under a review of a by-law, inspectors would be given the power to declare some homes as unfit for animals.

Ms de Graaf said the affair showed why the council’s planned dog by-law update should be viewed with caution.