This is Tonka.
On Feb 17th of this year, Tonka was seized by Kingston Council under the Victorian Government’s new ‘seize and destroy’ laws for unregistered dogs suspected to be of ‘pit bull type’. Tonka was loved. He was desexed, had not roamed or caused a problem in his community and by all accounts was a friendly dog. He was taken from his home under threat of death, and impounded at the Lost Dogs Home in Cranbourne.
… Tonka has today had his ‘restricted breed’ declaration overturned by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). He will be at home with his family as we speak.
Thousands of dollars of kennelling expenses, thousands of dollars of legal costs, the time and anguish of Tonka’s family and the cost to Tonka himself having been kennelled for months on end, while his family was denied access to him – and all for what? To ‘get’ a dog who’d done nothing wrong.
These laws are a failure in every respect.
See also: Insights into BSL – the details the Victorian government don’t want you to know about its ‘dangerous dog’ legislation
So happy for Tonka, he is lucky he has the owners he does, I hope this heinous new legislation will become a thing of the past soon,so much waste of innocent life.. so much heart ache for their owners.. and what a way to waste tax payer money and resources.. I hope your success shines a torch of hope for the others fighting for their beloved and innocent pet’s life too.
There are no bad dogs, only bad owners. People who get a dog for the wrong reasons, or don’t research breed characteristics, or don’t research effective training techniques, or don’t make sure a particular dog is a good match for their family, personality-wise…it’s always the humans. A dog who has a human who did everything right and still has behaviour issues most likely has a medical problem.
I totally agree with iluvchocalate’s comment above, well said. We must protect people from vicious dogs no doubt. However not barge in Nazi style and take beautiful well cared for animals, Pitt Bull or Pit Bull look a likes and seize them. Law needs serious re-defining and persons involved need to be more intelligent in carrying out the law and assess more accurately the situation. What happened to this poor dog and the family outrageous and a huge knee jerk response ! Of course people being mauled also unacceptable.
Disgusting, the worry and fear that this dog and his family must have endured. When will they stop victimizing breeds and concentrate on the deed. Pits are wonderful dogs, its the owners that they often attract that’s the problem. We need legislation that protects the dogs as well as people from stereotyping by type.