Electric fence dogs council
MICHAEL Jongebloed and his cattle dog Austin took on the Gold Coast City Council and came out on top.
The Molendinar carpenter yesterday had a win for Gold Coast dog owners who use electric fences to keep their pooches in the backyard and he even did it without a lawyer.
Mr Jongebloed pleaded not guilty in the Southport Magistrates Court to last year failing to comply with a notice to keep his dog in a proper enclosure after the council argued an electric wire was not a “fence”.
Magistrate Ron Kilner sided with Mr Jongebloed and dismissed the charge.
The ordeal began in April 2016 when a neighbour complained Austin had been wandering their Molendinar street.
Animal management officers turned up at the Kingsway Drive property and advised Mr Jongebloed he had 21 days to build a fence or he would be in breach of a council bylaws, the court heard.
About a month later, officers returned to find Austin, who the court heard is not a regulated or dangerous dog, in the front yard wearing a shock collar, which gave him a buzz when he crossed an electric boundary.
Despite the fact council officers told the court they saw several flags in the lawn indicating an electric wire was in place, they “impounded” Austin for “public safety”.
Mr Jongebloed was issued an infringement notice for failing to properly fence his property.
Nicholas Hatcher, lawyer for the council, told the court the “enclosure” put in place by Mr Jongebloed was not a “fence” but an “electrified wire” that would not stop other dogs getting in or people being harassed by Austin as they walked past.
Mr Hatcher argued the “electric wire” did not comply with council bylaws because power outages or battery failure in the collar would cause it to fail.
However, Mr Jongebloed told the court there had only been one power outage in the four years he had lived at the property, which lasted only an hour.
“Anything can fail, can’t it?” Dr Kilner said. “If the council had intended it to have been built of timber, wire or bricks, then why doesn’t it (the bylaw) say so?
“There can be no argument, surely, that electricity is a material? There can be no argument that wires are a material?
“There can be failures in actual fences, too …”
Outside court Mr Jongebloed told others: “Stick to your guns”.
“He’s a good dog. He’s got a job to do and that’s to protect my property from the bad guys. My job is to keep him in,” he said.