Jessica Gray’s 13-year-old daughter’s dog Mylo has been on death row for 22 months after it escaped from their Sunshine West home and was seized by council officers who branded it a restricted breed dog.
Ms Gray has refused to give up on the much-loved dog, which used to sleep every night at the end of her daughter Brodie’s bed and was her best friend.
She says DNA tests she paid for in the US proved Mylo was an American Staffordshire terrier cross, not a pit bull.
The “Stop them from killing Mylo” Facebook page now has more than 6500 likes and Ms Gray has twice taken her case on appeal to the Supreme Court after the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal repeatedly ordered that Mylo be put down.
Justice Jack Rush on Thursday upheld Ms Gray’s latest appeal, giving the now three-year-old Mylo a stay of execution and ordering the case return to VCAT for a third time.
Brimbank City Council was ordered to pay Ms Gray’s court costs and now has 14 days to decide if it will again pursue the case in VCAT or let Mylo out of the Lost Dogs’ Home.
Ms Gray told Fairfax Media she had never thought about giving up the fight to save Mylo.
“We know he’s not a pit bull and we’ll keep fighting and fighting and fighting for him,” she said.
Ms Gray said her daughter could no longer visit Mylo because it was too heartbreaking seeing her dog locked up and expecting to come home with her every time he saw her.
The family’s heartbreak began on May 7, 2012, when the unregistered Mylo escaped from the family home.
Mylo was seized the next day by Brimbank City Council officer Tim Christie and taken to the Lost Dogs’ Home because he believed Mylo was a restricted breed – a pit bull.
On May 11, 2012, Ms Gray signed a document titled “Animal Surrender Authorisation”.
In a handwritten statement tendered to the Supreme Court, Ms Gray described how she came to sign the surrender form.
“My mum and I met with Tim Christie (Ranger). Tim informed us that Mylo was a restricted breed, we were both very upset. At 1.30pm the same day, my mum and I went to meet with Tim and John (Mr Christie’s team leader).
“Tim had pictures of a dog, he asked if it was Mylo, mum and I agreed it was.
“Tim said with his experience that Mylo was a restricted breed.
“Tim or John explained that in this situation Mylo would have to be euthanised or we could take the matter further and go to VCAT.
“Not fully knowing what VCAT was and entailed, and being very very upset, I agreed to sign Mylo over to the council to be euthanised.”
But according to Mr Christie’s document titled “Restricted breed interview: Officer’s Summary”, he claimed he asked Ms Gray, “Are you aware that your dog is a red nose pitbull terrier?” and she replied, “Yes.”
“I said: Why have you not registered the dog?
“She said: Because we were scared that we would lose the dog.
“I said: Why did you not comply with the restricted breed legislation for the keeping of a restricted breed dog.
“She said: Scared that we would lose my daughter’s dog.
“I said: How long has the dog been on the property.
“She said: Have had about two years.”
On May 14, 2012, Ms Gray contacted the council to say she wanted to revoke the surrender document and she would be applying to VCAT to review the council’s decision that Mylo was a restricted-breed dog.
Later in court, Ms Gray said the council had engaged in misleading conduct and acted in bad faith in its dealings with her on May 11 and that she had been falsely induced to sign the surrender document.
