Paul Ruthven: Ararat man fights Ararat Rural City’s dangerous dog decision

A dedicated Ararat owner says despite two alleged attacks, including biting a woman on the arm, his dog shouldn’t be declared dangerous.

An Ararat man is fighting a council decision to have his blue heeler Poppy declared as dangerous, despite the dog being involved in two alleged attacks.

Ararat Rural City Council has declared Paul Ruthven’s heeler a “dangerous animal” after she was allegedly involved in two separate attacks, including biting a woman on the arm.

But Mr Ruthven denies Poppy is dangerous and is fighting the decision at VCAT.

He denies she has an “aggressive” temperament despite the alleged attacks.

“I would expect I would know what kind of temperament my dog has,” he said.

“I have a good relationship with my dog.”

Declaring the dog a dangerous animal would require Mr Ruthven to have his dog restrained both at home and out in public.

The first attack allegedly happened in June 2021 when Mr Ruthven got home from church. He took Poppy inside but quickly put her back outside when his wife told him she was cleaning the floors.

A short time later Poppy escaped through a hole in the fence and chased after another dog and the owner who were walking past.

Mr Ruthven told VCAT his dog got hold of the victim’s dog by the foot before he was able to catch up with her and pull her backwards down an embankment.

The victim told the tribunal she fell backwards during the ordeal and hit the back of her head.

The victim claimed she was bitten on the arm by Poppy however Mr Ruthven said he believed the victim’s own dog had bitten her during the chaos.

The victim said her arm was “compromised” for many weeks.

“I lost strength and had numbness in my fingers,” she told the tribunal.

The victim said she was “hysterical” during the attack and couldn’t work or go to the gym for weeks afterwards due to the injuries she sustained.

The victim required many GP appointments, physiotherapy and the advice of a neurosurgeon to recover from the injuries sustained.

The victim told Leader she had to have X-rays to “rule out broken bones” and said the accusation her own dog bit her was astounding.

The victim of a vicious dog attack in Ararat doesn’t want the dog to attack anyone else.

“Why would a 21 year old, a year later, still try and stick up for herself against a 60 year old man, waste time, money, her annual leave and pain to do the right thing by her council and members of the public who I would hate to see go through what I did, if my own dog inflicted these injuries on me,” she said.

The second attack is alleged to have happened in November 2021 at the council pound. Poppy was at the pound at the time and Mr Ruthven was visiting her. Mr Ruthven went to take Poppy out into the exercise yard when she pushed through a closed gate to reach another dog named Beau who was tied to a fence.

Once she reached Beau there was an aggressive interaction between the two and Beau required staples to an injury under his chin.

Mr Ruthven said Poppy has no trouble being around other dogs and told the tribunal he takes Poppy to places with lots of dogs regularly.

“She goes to a park run where there are lots of dogs and I take her to training classes, not to train but just to be around other dogs,” she said.

“Every now and then there will be a dog that she will have a reaction to but it isn’t every dog.”

He continued, “Poppy is a reactionary dog. Poppy is responding, not aggressing.”

A dog trainer who assessed Poppy told the tribunal she didn’t think Poppy was an aggressive dog.

“I have dealt with aggressive dogs,” she said.

“She didn’t show any of the behaviours I would have expected from an aggressive dog.”

A worker at the pound told the tribunal Poppy was a “lovely” dog when it came to people but had “displayed aggression towards other dogs from time to time”.

“I had to keep Poppy separated from some of the dogs,” she said.

The worker witnessed the second incident and told the tribunal Poppy took a while to control.

“Beau had puncture marks under his chin and there was blood dripping out,” she said.

The hearing concluded with a decision expected at a later date.

Recently there has been numerous dog attacks throughout the state. Including a vicious encounter where a dog attacked a horse.