By Keith Perry
Animal lover Scott Mayo has been cleared by a court of owning a dangerous dog, but the legal victory came too late: his beloved pet has been destroyed.
Mr Mayo said he hoped to celebrate quietly at home with his Staffordshire bull terrier-cross, Shy, after a court dismissed charges
last week that she bit a neighbour and attacked a dog warden.
But instead, Mr Mayo is grieving because the Manukau City Council destroyed his pet.
The council claimed that dog wardens decided the animal was vicious and a threat to the public.
Now, the distraught car mechanic plans to sue the city, saying it acted illegally in destroying the dog before the court case was even heard.
He said that last week a judge in the Papakura District Court dismissed charges, saying there was no evidence that the dog was dangerous.
Mr Mayo, aged 38, of Manurewa, who has a 15-month-old son and two cats, said he had reared Shy from a pup after she was found starving and abandoned under a house.
"She was docile and had never bitten anyone. She even played with my kitten and would only growl if someone tried to break into the house or garden, which the judge said she was entitled to do," he said.
"The council seized her and her puppy on November 17 and since then I have been trying to get her back via the courts. The council said I would have to pay for her kennel costs, although I refused on the grounds that they had taken her illegally.
"Then, when I went to Manukau City Council saying I wanted to see her before I paid any money, it transpired that they had destroyed her. They acted like fascists, deciding they couldn't wait for justice to be done and would kill my pet anyway.
"I just wonder how many other innocent dogs are destroyed because the council can't be bothered checking their facts first."
Mr Mayo said he has since given Shy's puppy to a new home and doubts whether he will ever get another dog because Shy was irreplaceable.
The Manukau City Council said no one was available to comment.
