Caged dog Stella offered new home by US animal sanctuary
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Version 0 of 1. Stella, the dog police kept locked in a cage for two years, has been offered a new home by an American pit bull sanctuary. The charity in Connecticut came forward after it emerged that Devon and Cornwall police had kept Stella, a pit bull-type dog, caged without exercise since officers seized her from her owner in 2014 on the basis that she was a banned breed. Officers told staff at the kennels that Stella was “too dangerous to walk”. Laura Khanlarian, a kennels assistant who blew the whistle on Stella’s treatment, said she was only let out twice during her stay for behavioural assessments. Stella is set to be destroyed after a court ruled she was aggressive, although she has never been accused of biting anyone. Now Animals R Family rescue centre in Stamford has offered to fly Stella to the US. The charity said on Facebook: “Stella was seized by police in the UK, simply because she is a pit bull, and locked in a tiny kennel for two years with no exercise and now they want to kill her. “Stella is a sweet and friendly pit bull who wants love and a family. It is time for the lies to stop, Devon & Cornwall police. Stella can come to Connecticut, USA, where BSL [breed-specific legislation] is illegal. Laura Khanlarian is a true hero for speaking out.” Nicole Bruck, a volunteer withthe charity, said it would pay to bring Stella to the US. “Breed-specific legislation is wrong and ineffective. In the US, pit bulls are one of the most popular dogs for a family pet,” she told BBC News. However, Stella’s owner, Antony Hastie, is also trying to save his pet. Devon and Cornwall police said Hastie had “launched a late appeal against the destruction order against Stella” and she would “remain in kennels until the outcome of the appeal is known”. Hastie’s lawyer, Tina Wagon, of dog law specialists Wheldon Law, told the BBC that her client wanted his dog back or, if that was not possible, “to get some help”. Hastie added that his main priority was that Stella was kept alive. Ch Supt Jim Nye of Devon and Cornwall police said in a statement that Stella had been used twice by her owner as a weapon to threaten police. Hastie told the BBC he had never been arrested over the matter. Nye added: “There is now an interim exemption scheme within the law that allows the police to return a pit bull terrier to its owner prior to a court hearing if the owner is deemed to be fit and proper and the dog does not constitute a danger to the public. “However, in this case the district judge declared that the owner of Stella is not a fit or proper person to own this dog. He has over 40 previous convictions for separate offences. Also, on top of that, the judge ruled that Stella poses a risk to public safety.” Police and crime commissioner Tony Hogg said: “The dog was removed from its owner because it is an illegal breed which presented a danger to the public. “All independent, professional advice is that the dog posed a threat, both to the public and to those who worked in the kennels. The protracted legal process is wrong both in the way it has prolonged the dog’s incarceration and in the cost to the public purse.” |