Fonzie, the alleged pitbull terrier that has been on death row for four months, will be set free for a heart-warming reunion with owner Justin Taylor today, but the bigger picture should be of far more concern to the council.

Magistrate Jennifer Batts yesterday said she was not satisfied that the council's dog control officers had sufficient qualifications to determine the breed of suspected dangerous dogs.

Mr Taylor, a quadriplegic, went to court to win back his 'best mate' after Fonzie which Mr Taylor claims is actually a staffordshire terrier was picked up by animal control officers in July and identified as a pitbull, using a questionnaire-style criteria test. The American pitbull is one of four types of dog banned on the Gold Coast.

Lawyers for Mr Taylor successfully argued the officers were hardly experts in identifying breeds of dogs and that the identification process itself was too open to interpretation.

The court was told the total training given to council officers in identifying dog breeds amounted to a one-day seminar, and a dog could be identified as 'dangerous' if it scored more than 70 per cent in a 16-point test.

That did not satisfy Ms Batts.

"She (council animal control officer Selina Neill) does not have either the experience, or the training, to qualify as an expert," said Ms Batts before quashing the destruction order.

Lawyers for Mr Taylor had brought along their own 'expert', a leading veterinary surgeon, but his testimony was not even required.

Mr Taylor, who has relied on Fonzie's companionship since a surfing accident left him in a wheelchair five years ago, buried his head in his hands as the verdict was read out. He was overjoyed at the result.

"It's great. It's disappointing that we had to go through all this hassle to prove what I already knew, but I'm very happy," he said.

"I'm going to have my best mate by my side again. I will be there (to the pound) first thing in the morning to bring him home."

Acting for Mr Taylor, barrister Jack Pappas said the outcome showed there were serious problems with the council's protocol.

"The legislation is unworkable and it does not stand up under any sort of scrutiny," he said.

The decision could have far-reaching consequences for the council which has already put down more than 60 animals declared as dangerous dogs as yesterday's verdict opens the door for other dog owners to challenge the conclusion of animal control officers.

The council's director of community services, Colette McCool, said it was too early to speculate on any move to tighten procedures.


... catch up! Go Fonzie , l hope everyone that has lost there dog to this heinus crime Challenge the Councils all over QLD.

A COURT DECISION LAST WEEK TO FREE FONZIE, THE ALLEGED PITBULL
HAS THROWN THE SPOTLIGHT ON TO THE COUNCILS DANGEROUS DOG LAWS.

As Fonzie slipped out of his master's back-yard one July afternoon and into the hands of the council's dog catchers, he could not have possibly known the series of events he had started. No one could have.

No on could of known just how hard his owner, Justin Taylor, was prepared to fight to win him back, or just how easily the council's laws would fall apart under legal scrutiny. Fonzie's landmark reprieve, with his heart warming reunion with Mr Taylor.
A qaudriplegic who relied on his "best mate" for companionship, has the potential to see a complete overhaul of the council's dog laws.

Already other lawyers have contacted the Bulletin, admitting they plan to use the a similar defence to the one that led to Fonzie's freedom. The concern is that the Council's Animal Control Officers, through no fault of their own, did not have the proper qualifications to judge what type of breed a dog was. And that the criteria they were using was far to subjective.

Using a standardised test, a dog needs only a 70 per cent to be offically declared a certain breed.
As one lawyer who plans to bring the law under scrutiny for a similar case argued, that is not good enough.

"you can say that they are 71% certain the dog is a pitbull, which is the same as saying the they are 29% completely uncertain that it is a pitbull"he said. "That its a ridiculous situation"

Clearly Coolangatta Magistrate Jennifer Batts agreed when she ordered that the destruction order on fonzie's head be quashed. She found a One-Day training seminar did not make council officers experts in identifying dog breeds and alluded to the notion that the council's dog law's had major problems.

THE COUNCIL IS THE FIRST TO ADMIT THE LAWS ARE FLAWED.

But Health and Community Safety Chairwoman Sue Robbins remains unapologetic about the council's tough stance on roaming and dangerous dogs. "People are saying we got it wrong on this occassion but if that dog had bitten someone, everyone would of been up in arms blaming us for allowing dog's to be on the loose,"she said.

"Its a situation where we have to find a balance, but people's safety comes first". People are drawn to dogs and there is something that tugs at the heartstrings about the idea of somebody's pet sitting on death row. However, ask any of the Gold Coasters that have been mauled by savage dog's over the past few years and they will say the council needs to be tough,perhaps even tougher then they already are.

Legialation outlawing dangerous dogs are the passion of the council's previous Mayor, Gary Baildon. He believed as most do, that people should be able to walk the streets without being mauled by unrestained dogs's. Four types of dogs, including the pitbull's are banned on the Gold Coast and the new leigislation has already led to the destruction of almost 70 dogs, which were identified as dangerous under the council's questionaire method.

The test scores dog's on a one, two, and three point basis in relation to specific questions.
If ,for instance, the dog has a strong pronounced jawline, it would score a three on that question, while if it did not , it would perhaps score a one. Oher dogs have been forced out of the city as an alternative to having the animal destroyed.

Private investigater Mr X-Doe is one dog owner who had to move his animal South of the Border to escape the death penalty, but believed the council's 70% system was bound to fail. He is an American Stafforshire and spent 4months in the council pound after being identified as a pit bull terrier by the council's animal control officers.

Unlike Mr Taylor, who's Barrister Jack Pappas worked on the case pro-bono, Mr x was not able to take the matter to court and eventually settled for moving dog out of the state. His dog, declared illegal on the Gold Coast, was registered as a Staffordshire in NSW without a problem.

"It took them 5 seconds to identify him as a staffie" he said.


GOLD COAST BULLETIN
13TH NOV 2004.

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Talk of the Town 4RO 7:30am 9th November 2004

Jeff Goodwin
Premier Peter Beattie

Premier, I don’t want to ambush you


No Jeff you can ambush anytime


We just had a listener who rang from the Gold Coast actually and Quadriplegic Justin Tailor had his PitBull taken off him with this 22 point system. It was actually am AmStaff but the 22 point system identified it as being a PitBull. He went to court and won and he’s got his dog back after 4 mths of being incarcerated, the listener wanted to know what about the other 68, 69 dogs that have been taken away that might have been falsely identified with this 22 point system.


Well he had a fight with the Gold Coast City Council, which he won. There was an argument about the dog and what, and the quality of the determination by the council as to weather it was a PitBull or not, let me be relay clear about this. We the government don’t support PitBulls, they have damaged to many people, we will obviously keep continuing to review with the local government as to the accreditation system, for the determination of PitBull. I got a dog. I love dogs. I am a dog lover but I think PitBulls frankly I don’t agree with them at all


They say the statistics show that PitBull attacks compared with other breeds of dog is very low, but I suppose they highlight PitBulls in the news.


Well yeah, the point about all that Jeff is that PitBulls are for all sorts of reasons have been determined to be dangerous and you know when they attack let me tall you there is not a lot left. There is a little bit different between getting a nip on the knee and PitBulls don’t leave a lot left. They are very dangerous dogs. The issue he’s got is though, is weather or not it was a PitBull, as I understand it, I haven’t followed this case closely and I just soar it in the news, my understanding it his case, there was an argument as to weather in fact it fitted with the category of the PitBull or not. And I think in the end the determination was made and he was a special case because of his disability and I am pleased he won good luck to him.



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