Dog on death row is saved

A Gillingham dog owner wept as a judge removed an immediate “destruction” order on a pitbull-type breed.

Roxie had been on “death row” for three years after magistrates ruled she had to be put down. Now the dog has been given a stay of execution after Judge David Griffith-Jones QC and two magistrates ruled pet owner Dean Foord is a “fit person” to own the animal - and it poses no threat to the public if controlled properly.

Foord, 28, has now received exemption certificate from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

He told the judge how he had been in a car accident in 2015 and was left in a coma and Roxie had helped with his recovery. The animal has spent the past couple of years in kennels - at a cost of £17,000 to taxpayers - while the courts decided its future.

Maidstone Crown Court heard police had gone to Foord’s home on another matter when the pitbull-type animal was spotted by officers. Foord, of Valley Road, was charged under the Dangerous Dogs Act and magistrates ordered the animal be destroyed as they considered it posed a threat to public safety.

In a bid to save Roxie, Mr Foord also set up an online petition to get his dog home. It has been signed by 561,407 people. But Foord appealed and now the judge overturned the decision after ruling Foord, despite his previous convictions for assault, was a “fit and proper” person to own the animal and that Roxie did not pose a danger to public safety if properly controlled.

The judge revealed he was using powers as part of a scheme introduced in 2015 in which a dog could be released to its owner if a certificate of exemption was granted under stringent conditions, including muzzling. He added: “We take the view that Mr Foord is a fit and proper person to be in charge of Roxie and in his charge, on the balance of probability, would not constitute a danger to public safety.”

Police said they had been obliged to notify courts of a banned breed.