Shepparton Magistrates’ Court: Chantelle Keep guilty of unregistered dog charges

A pair of dogs owned by a Kialla woman escaped their property and attacked two dogs and their owners, causing serious injuries.

A Kialla woman has been fined after she failed to secure her two dogs which escaped her property and attacked two people and their pets, leaving them with serious injuries.

Chantelle Keep pleaded guilty to dogs being found at large offences at the Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

The court heard the 33-year-old owned two dogs (one a staffordshire bull terrier) which both escaped property on August 29 last year and attacked a passing cavoodle and its owner.

The cavoodle suffered serious injuries including lacerations and puncture wounds, and the owner sustained deep lacerations to their hand and was taken to hospital.

The next day, the pair attacked another dog and their owner, with the dog suffering serious injuries and the owner receiving bites and lacerations.

The staffy Keep owns was also unregistered and impounded after it was seized by Greater Shepparton City Council last year, the court heard.

(Generic image) Chantelle Keep, who owns a staffy, failed to secure the animal that escape and attacked two dogs and owners on separate occasions in August 2022. Picture: Supplied

The staffy still remains at the pound and it is not known what council did with the other dog, but it’s understood it’s not at the pound.

Councils are able to declare a dog to be ‘dangerous’ if the animal has caused serious injury or death to a person or another animal, according to the Domestic Animals Act 1994.

Failing to comply with prescribed restrictions, heavy penalties can be applied for offences including the dog attacking again, being at large and not being kept according to the law on confinement and management of such dogs.

Owners can also be jailed for up to 10 years if their dog kills a person and five years if their dog endangers someone's life.

Keep’s defence lawyer Jacqueline Kennedy said Keep was paying back the first owner’s vet bills as a result of the attack on their cavoodle.

Ms Kennedy said the penalties were $10,000 in shelter costs, and $7000 for an attack causing serious injury.

“These are extremely high costs,” she said.

Magistrate Simon Zebrowski said it was very serious offending.

“Everybody wants to keep a dog, yes, but you have a responsibility,” Mr Zebrowski told Keep.

He said dangerous dogs must be kept safely secured and people have a right to walk their dogs in public without getting attacked.

Keep was convicted and fined $1000.

Since Keep pleaded guilty, Mr Zebrowski reduced the shelter costs from $10,000 to $5000.