A supporter of a Sunshine West dog on death row has accused the Brimbank council of wasting at least $50,000 on legal fees to have “Mylo” put down.
Angii Rotblat said it was a waste of taxpayers’ money that the council had fought through several Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and Supreme Court hearings over two years. Mylo, which council says is a restricted- breed dog, was picked up in May, 2012.
“Monash council spent over $100,000 to try to kill one dog [Rapta] and lost. The dog had no history of ever being aggressive,” Ms Rotblat said. “Cardinia [council] spent over $80,000 on one dog [Rocket] and lost. This dog was also a loved family pet with no aggression issues.
“Hume has spent over $135,000 so far on trying to kill 10 dogs under BSL [breed-specific legislation] and still has four more pending.”
An unnamed source close to the Brimbank case said $50,000 would be a “conservative estimate”.
“It could be easily double that,” he said.
Monash council confirmed it had spent $170,000 in legal fees associated with restricted-breed dog laws. One of the dogs was released to its owner after the Supreme Court found VCAT had erred in law by upholding the council’s declaration of the dog as a restricted breed. The other case will be back in VCAT in the next few months.
A Cardinia council spokesman confirmed about $80,000 had been spent on the case of Rocket.
Brimbank council’s director of city development, Stuart Menzies, said it could not provide financial details on the case of Mylo as the matter was still before the courts.
