Small dogs seen as prey, court told
A bull mastiff-labrador cross that killed two chihuahua puppies at Tahunanui’s Back Beach saw small dogs as prey, a Nelson dog control officer says.
Nelson dog control officer Sandra Vale told the Nelson District Court that she observed the dog, Red, at the Nelson City Council pound, acting aggressively towards non-neutered dogs of all breeds and sizes.
‘‘He growls, snarls, barks, becomes fixated and tries to lunge at them through the cage door.’’
Ms Vale was giving evidence at a hearing yesterday to determine whether nine-year-old Red should be put down.
Judge Tom Broadmore reserved his decision after the day-long hearing. He also reserved sentencing Red’s owners, Jim Tanner and Annie Quinn who have since moved to Inangahua to live.
The couple were found guilty in May of charges of owning a dog that attacked the puppies. They had previously admitted a charge of owning a dog that was not under control.
Red bit and killed puppies Milo and Nizmo in the Parker’s Cove area of the Back Beach last September, after an initially social encounter between the dogs turned nasty within seconds.
The puppies were aged nine weeks and six months, and died in the arms of their Nelson owners, Shiree Brunell and Kate Earl, leaving the women traumatised.
Red’s owners had to yesterday prove that the circumstances of the attack were exceptional, to stop Red from being put down. The judge ruled that Red’s past and present behaviour could be used as evidence.
Ms Vale said she believed Red had a condition called predatory aggression and associated small dogs with prey.
‘‘I have seen Red becoming fixated on these small dogs, as if he is in a trance, and then he lunges at the cage door, growling and barking and trying to get at them.’’
Red was not aggressive towards people, she said.
Ms Vale said she impounded Red after a dog attack at Tahunanui in January 2010.
In an affidavit presented to the court, she said she saw Red and another dog on their back legs, trying to bite each other, and two young boys trying to drag their dog away. Neither owner was prosecuted.
Ms Vale also produced evidence that Red had a history of wander- ing from his former Nelson home.
The defence argued that Red’s behaviour in the pound, as described by Ms Vale and another dog control officer, was due to him being away from his owner.
A defence witness, dog trainer Ken White, said he had seen Red interact with his big dog, and Tanner was able to bring Red under control when asked to.
He said he believed that if Red was on the farm with his owners, the dog was very unlikely to be involved in a similar incident.
Defence lawyer Tim Spear argued that the attack on the puppies was exceptional, as they were untrained and too small to be at the beach. He said Red’s bites were lethal because the puppies were so small.
Mr Spear said Red was attacked first, and the chances of such an incident happening again were astronomically small. Tanner and Quinn were sorry for what happened, and if they could turn back the clock, they would.
Nelson City Council lawyer Antoinette Besier said there was nothing exceptional about the attack. It was not unusual for small dogs to be walking or exercised in public along with larger dogs.
Red was a large, powerful dog, and it was possible he could attack again, she said.
Ms Brunell and Ms Earl read victim impact statements to the court, and spoke about the lasting effects of watching their dogs being attacked and dying in front of them.
Both said they were now wary of big dogs and could not trust them, even dogs they had known for a long time. They spoke about how they had suffered abuse from people on social networking sites after the incident, and how hurtful that was.
Ms Brunell said that just days before the incident, she talked with Ms Earl about how they would do anything for her ‘‘baby’’.
‘‘It still hurts me to this day. I wish every day that there was a way that we could get our babies back.’’
Ms Earl said Nizmo was the first puppy she had owned, and she was in shock and trauma for days following his death. She still missed him a lot, and the way he used to snuggle up to her at night. The traumatic way her dog died made his death especially hard, she said.