australia has lost the plot

This story below is utter rubbish, how about putting down some politicans instead of a couple dogs that have done nothing wrong????





Two dogs labelled as pit bulls by a local council in Victoria have been euthanased after their owners lost a lengthy legal battle to save their lives.

The dogs, named Bear and Kooda, were put down in Shepparton yesterday under the state's new dangerous dog laws.

The two dogs had not done anything wrong, but the laws allow councils to seize and destroy unregistered pit bull terriers and their crosses based on visual identification.

The strict laws were introduced last year after the fatal mauling of Melbourne toddler Ayen Chol.

Nathan Laffan and Samantha Graham, the owners of Bear and Kooda, were the first Victorians to challenge the dog laws in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), claiming their dogs had been wrongly identified as pit bulls.

At the centre of the Cobram couple's case against Moira Shire Council was a statutory declaration from a local breeder who said the dogs actually came from a bull mastiff cross American bulldog and a staffie cross ridgeback.

They lost the case on May 10 and the dogs were ordered to be euthanased.

Mr Laffan told ninemsn Bear and Kooda were not dangerous and "wouldn't hurt anyone".

"They were just the kindest and best dogs. They were always playful, we loved them so much," he said.

"We would have trusted them around children more than most babysitters."

The trouble began in September when Mr Laffan heard the dog laws were about to be introduced and contacted Moira Shire Council to ensure his pets would be safe.

A council officer who went out to the couple's home identified the dogs as pit bulls and had them seized and taken to a local pound.

DNA tests cannot identify pit bulls or pit bull crosses and were unable to be used to confirm the breed.

Mr Laffan is now calling for behaviour tests to be used to assess a dog’s temperament, rather than the new laws which target specific breeds.

"The laws are all messed up they should never have brought them in," Mr Laffan said.

"We were just trying to do the right thing and they (the council) just stabbed us in the back."

Moira Shire Director of Development Scott Taylor confirmed the dogs had been put down as a result of the VCAT order.

"The legislative requirements were carried out by council after all avenues of appeal had been exhausted," Mr Taylor said.

Mr Laffan said they were given just an hour's notice and few minutes to say goodbye to their dogs after the time they were to be put down was brought forward by a day.

"It was hectic to be honest we were just trying to make sure we got there in time. It was just a really quick goodbye and that was it."

Author: Emily O'Keefe. News