Moreton Bay family fights to save life of dog that bit woman
A Moreton Bay family is fighting for their pet’s life after a council issued a destruction order for the American staffy.
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A DECEPTION Bay family is fighting for their pet’s life after Sarge the staffy became the latest ‘declared dangerous’ dog to be placed on a Brisbane council’s euthanasia list.
One of the owners of the American Staffordshire Bull terrier has started an online petition titled Help save our Staffy Sarge after the 7-year-old dog was seized and scheduled to be destroyed January 22.
Leonie, 18, who asked for her surname to be withheld, said Sargent bit a girl who looked about 17 after she knocked on the door before Christmas to try to sell a product.
“Sarge doesn’t like people he doesn’t know,” Leonie said.
“He managed to get out of the house push past (my partner’s mother) and bit the girl on the bum.
“He got straight off her and went inside and knew he did wrong.
“She fell down when it happened. She came inside we gave her some water and she walked home.”
Leonie said council rangers arrived at the house on January 2 and asked to scan Sargent’s microchip.
As the dog had been declared dangerous while living at in a previous home in 2016, the council rangers seized him under the Animal Management Act of 2008 and took him to the RSPCA Dakabin Animal Care Centre.
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A Moreton Bay Regional Council spokeswoman confirmed they had received a report of a dog bite that happened around December 19.
“Council understands the victim had knocked on the front door of property and while talking with the homeowner, the dog charged at the victim though the front door and pursued her into the front yard,” she said.
“The victim sustained one significant puncture wound to her chest and two to her left upper thigh. The victim received hospital treatment for the wounds.”
The spokeswoman said an investigating ranger was also bitten on the arm by the staffy when at the property on January 2 and required medical treatment for puncture wounds.
She confirmed the dog was regulated as a ‘dangerous dog’ in 2016, but did not disclose the reason.
“The owners of regulated dogs are prohibited from keeping these animals within their dwelling in order to prevent these types of incidents from occurring,” she said.
“The owners failed to meet these requirements, a failing which likely led to these unfortunate incidents taking place. Council acknowledges that most dog owners do the right thing, however those that don’t present an unacceptable safety risk.
“Under the Animal Management Act, if a regulated dog reoffends there are instruments for local councils to enact a destruction order.”
Leonie, who has been visiting Sarge at the pound, said the dog’s family have now filed an appeal against the death order.
She hopes to collect a minimum of 1000 signatures through the petition to add to the appeal.
“Sargent is the most gentle dog you could ever meet. He is incredibly protective but a lovely dog to the people he knows,” Leonie wrote on the petition.
“He’s a part of the family and has been for seven years now. We all adore him.”
The American staffy had lived with the family for two years, but was legally registered to another family member who did not live at the house.
The teenager said it was only after the council rangers seized Sarge that her family was informed he had been previously declared a dangerous dog.
She said they were told that Sarge had bitten another dog that entered his yard at his previous North Lakes home.
Leonie hopes her dog will be given another chance or to at least be allowed to return home while the appeal was pending, now that the family were aware of the 2016 declaration.
“We’ll show we’ll do everything we can, we’ll follow all of the laws and I’ll even take him to obedience training to prove I’m doing everything I can,” she said.
Leonie said she contacted the owners of Hank the Neapolitan mastiff for advice on how to submit an appeal as soon as Sarge was seized.
Hank bit a then-7-year-old girl in the face in Rothwell in 2016 and was seized by Moreton Bay Regional Council rangers in July, 2017.
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The girl, now 9, was left with severe facial injuries and required reconstructive surgery.
The large dog, which was also given a destruction order, was permitted to return home after a long battle costing thousands of dollars with the Moreton Bay Regional Council throughout 2017 and 2018.
The spokeswoman said the council had a zero-tolerance approach to irresponsible dog ownership and would intervene in cases where an animal presented an unacceptable risk to the safety of people or other animals.
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