Kate Mitchell loses appeal against destruction of ‘dangerous’ pit bulls Max and Maggie

The owner of two pit bull terriers named Max and Maggie has tried to convince a tribunal they were not the culprits in the killing of a neighbour’s puppy and should be removed from death row at the local pound.

The owner of two pitbulls, that attacked and killed another dog, has lost her latest attempt to keep the pets from being destroyed.

Queensland’s Civil and Administrative Tribunal has rejected an appeal by owner Kate Mitchell of Tamaree.

Ms Mitchell has been fighting with Gympie Regional Council over the fate of the dogs for more than five years.

The dogs, a male black American Staffordshire pit bull terrier named Max and a female brown and white American Staffordshire pit bull terrier, Maggie, were declared dangerous by the council in 2017 after repeatedly escaping their enclosures and attacking a neighbour’s dog.

Each weighs about 25kg.

Five months after being declared dangerous, they were impounded following the death of a five-month old Kelpie-cross puppy named Boof.

The owner of two pitbulls deemed dangerous after killing a neighbour’s five-month-old puppy in 2017 has lost her appeal against a 2021 QCAT decision confirming they should be destroyed.

Max and Maggie were found near Boof’s corpse by the pup’s owner.

They were ordered to be destroyed shortly after the attack.

In January 2021 QCAT member Vass Poteri rejected a claim by Ms Mitchell wild dogs had caused Boof’s death, finding Max and Maggie were responsible and backing the council’s decision.

Ms Mitchell appealed saying QCAT erred in finding Max and Maggie were involved in Boof’s death and that there was “some doubt” as to whether she would comply with conditions needed to keep the dogs.

In March QCAT member Professor Ned Aughterson rejected these claims.

In his published ruling Mr Aughterson said the 2021 tribunal explored several facts around Boof’s death, including the lack of witnesses and that no evidence could be found of wild dogs in the vicinity at the time.

Gympie Regional Council staff declared the two pit bulls dangerous in February 2017 after they repeatedly escaped their yard and attacked a neighbour’s dog. The council ordered their destruction only months, when they were found near the a puppy they had killed.

He rejected Ms Mitchell’s claim the tribunal had to disprove any reasonable hypothesis about her dogs’ innocence saying it was a principle for criminal proceedings, not administrative ones.

Mr Aughterson similarly rejected Ms Mitchell’s claims about her ability to comply with any conditions needed to keep the dogs in the future.

He said the 2021 tribunal not only found Ms Mitchell had several opportunities to work with the council following her dogs’ impounding and was “an unconvincing witness”, but there were a half-dozen other factors under consideration as well.

These included the dogs’ declaration as dangerous, evidence Maggie and Max escaped their yard to attack another dog, Joe, before Boof’s death, and a lack of evidence at either proceeding that Ms Mitchell had “shown any remorse or empathy to these owners” or offered to compensate Joe’s owner for his vet bill.

Originally published as Kate Mitchell loses appeal against destruction of ‘dangerous’ pit bulls Max and Maggie