Daniel Blake wins appeal and avoids jail after dangerous dogs escape Seaford home and kill pets
A Seaford man facing jail after his dangerous dogs killed two pet rabbits has appealed his sentence, arguing it was his mentally ill partner who allowed the animals to escape.
South East
Don't miss out on the headlines from South East . Followed categories will be added to My News.
An “incredibly slack” dog owner who failed to control his dangerous dogs is fighting for his freedom after being sentenced to two months behind bars
Daniel Blake on Thursday fronted the County Court of Victoria to appeal his sentence which included the jail term, a $2000 fine and five year ban on owning a dog.
The sentence was handed down by Frankston Magistrates Court on November 1, after Blake’s dogs escaped his property overnight on August 24, 2024 and killed two pet rabbits.
The dogs are now on death road and expected to be euthanased on Friday.
Both dogs were declared dangerous and meant to be kept in a special enclosure and wear a muzzle when outside the property.
Blake, who has defended himself in court, told Judge Frances Dalziel that while he accepted he was at fault over the dogs escaping, it was his late partner who allowed them out.
Blake told the court his partner, who died from a drug overdose in January, was a diagnosed schizophrenic and “wouldn’t listen” to his repeated requests to ensure the dogs did not leave the property.
He said it wasn’t until he was sentenced to jail and Frankston Council ordered the destruction of the dogs that she realised the importance of the court orders relating to the animals.
“She hit the drugs pretty hard afterwards, and ended up overdosing, partly due to this matter,” Blake said.
The court heard one of the two dogs was able to open the front door of the house.
“Nate is an escape artist,” Blake said.
“I see him climb trees, fences.”
Blake said on the night of the deadly attack he was asleep in his room with the dogs.
“They couldn’t open the bedroom door,” he said.
He believed his partner had allowed Nate and Narla out of the bedroom where they were then able to escape the house and wander the neighbourhood.
The American Staffordshire type dogs were spotted at large almost a kilometre from home and ended up in a neighbour’s backyard.
The court heard a woman living at the house heard a noise outside and when she opened the back door the dogs tried to force their way inside.
She managed to stop them entering and the family later found their two pets rabbits dead in their hutch.
Judge Frances Dalziel said Blake had been “incredibly slack, failing grossly” to control his dogs and she understood why the two month jail term had been imposed on Blake by Frankston Magistrates Court.
However, she felt it would do more public good for him to be sentenced to a Community Corrections Order (CCO) with significant hours of community work attached.
Blake was convicted and sentenced to an 18 month CCO with 250 hours community work and drug and alcohol screening.
He told the court agreed to the council’s application to destroy the dogs.