Dog owner launches court battle, steals pet back in desperate bid to save him from death row

Waitaki District Council has won back the right to decide what happens to a dangerous pit bull, but it's unsure how it can do that now the dog has been returned to a new owner. Photo / File

A man locked in a legal battle to save his dog from death row was so desperate to rescue his pet that he even stole him back from the pound.

Otago man Daniel Vickers was told by Waitaki District Council last year that his pooch would be destroyed after he continuously allowed his pit bull Chase to roam without a muzzle - in breach of his obligations as an owner of a menacing dog.

"They were going to put him down and weren't going to give him back to me," Vickers told the Herald.

The day before the District Court hearing to decide the dog's fate, Vickers' lawyer told him he probably wouldn't see his dog, who he described as his best friend, ever again.

So Vickers went to the Waitaki District Council's pound and stole him back.

"I've been through some extreme lenghts to get my dog back," he said.

"It's been an absolute nightmare to be honest."

But in a surprise twist Vicker's won the appeal and the District Court ruled the council failed to explore all its options of disposing of the dog, such as rehoming him before deciding to put him down.

Judge Maze ordered the dog's ownership be transferred to one of Vicker's friend's whose property has been approved.

But after Waitaki District Council appealed the decision at the High Court, the decision around the transferring of ownership was revoked.

Justice Dunningham, in a decision released this month, found the District Court judge had no jurisdiction to order who should look after the dog. The ruling should have focused on whether to uphold the council's decision, she said.

Justice Dunningham therefore agreed with the council's original compliance decision that Vickers had breached his obligations and said the council was now in a position to determine how to dispose of the dog.

Waitaki District Council is now seeking further legal advice about what actions they can take because during the appeal period Vickers and his dog moved across the river to Waimate.

Chase was impounded by Waimate District Council in early July after he was found wandering in a chicken pen. It was the second time the council had received a complaint about Chase this year.

Vickers said Chase had lived in the town his whole life and wandered around like he was a human. He disagreed he was dangerous and said when he was last picked up by animal control from the chicken pen he was lying in it and the chickens were still alive.

Waimate District Council regulatory and compliance group manager Paul Cooper said prior to the High Court decision being released, Chase had been given back to his owners who complied with all requests, including securing their property.

Waitaki District Council enforcement officer Tristan Hope said because Chase had been returned to a new registered owner, the council was now seeking further legal advice on how to best act on the latest High Court ruling.

Vickers said he had just spent $300 to get his dog released from the pound and it was now registered to his partner who had known Chase since he was six months' old.

The couple had no plans of giving him back.

"He means everything. I class him as one of my kids," he said.

"It's pretty much I will have to put him somewhere safe."