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Reply With QuoteNeville Patterson (03-04-2011)
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A PERTH man who broke into a pound and stole his own dog after it was put on death row for a savage attack has been jailed for eight months.
Rocco Arfuso pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and stealing on August 4 last year and appeared for sentencing at Perth Magistrates Court today.
Chief Magistrate Steven Heath previously told Arfuso the difference between him going to jail or not was whether the dog, a Japanese akita called Kunza, was returned.
In a remarkable twist to the tale, defence lawyer Mark Andrews told the court today that City of Stirling rangers had seized what they thought was the fugitive animal but it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.
The innocent pooch remains in custody at the council’s pound while Kunza remains at large.
The court heard that the vet meant to euthanise Kunza stated it was the wrong canine because it had a different personality and markings, was older and was lighter.
“The real Kunza was a very large dog weighing some 50 to 60 kilos,” Mr Andrews said.
“It never wagged its tail and always stood on guard.”
Mr Andrews said the innocent dog was completely the opposite, with a happy disposition and always wagging its tail.
“The real Kunza remains outstanding,” he said.
After Mr Heath passed sentence, Arfuso maintained that it was his dog that had been seized and that he had never been asked to identify the animal.
Kunza was declared a dangerous dog in April after it mauled an elderly man’s hand and bit off one of his son’s fingers when he tried to help his father during the attack in Karrinyup.
Arfuso and two other men cut a hole in the fence and forced open a kennel door using a crowbar. The incident was captured on CCTV.
The dog was taken a day before it was due to be put down.
Mr Andrews said Arfuso built a “close relationship” with the dog after his fiancé died of an asthma attack and that a psychological report deemed him as impulsive, suicidal and unable to cope with poor reasoning ability.
He said his personality was plagued with anxiety and resentment.
“The dog helped lift a veil of depression,” Mr Andrews told the court.
He said the motivating factor in the crime was to prevent the Kunza being euthanised and that the great escape was an “amateurish way to recover the animal”.
“He doesn’t think like you or I,” Mr Andrews told the magistrate.
“I would urge you to reconsider a jail term as a last resort for the purposes of sentence to enable him to obtain rehabilitative intervention.”
Mr Heath said he accepted Arfuso’s “strong” relationship with his dog “given the tragic circumstances of your fiancés death”.
But Mr Heath said he deliberately embarked on a burglary and had done nothing to help recover the dog since it was taken while he was “on a path to self destruction”.
The City of Stirling said rangers seized the wrong animal after a “tip off” from the public.
A spokesman said the animal would undergo a behavioural assessment and would likely be adopted.
Grieving man jailed for stealing back dog | Perth Now
Neville Patterson (03-04-2011)
Although I sympathise with this guy's predicament and understand his motivation, you can't break, enter and steal, get caught on CCTV and expect go get away with it, although a jail term in the circumstances was probably a bit severe.
I have a problem with seizing dogs and the laws governing when a ranger and under what circumstances a dog can be seized are laws we should all be aware of, as quite often, rangers driven by the motivation to get a result and close a dog attack investigation seize dogs when not having substantial enough evidence to lawfully do so at that stage in the investigation and can easily railroad dog owners ignorant of the laws into handing dogs over when the action cannot be legally enforced.
The other issue of vulnerability is the temperament assessment where a dog that doesn't present to strangers with a wagging tail and sloppy kisses be determined as dangerous or faulty in temperament with aloof body language, especially if subject to an attack enquiry as the possible offender wheather it was involved in the incident or not. There are plenty of dogs that won't pass a council temperament assessment and given the stupidity of the dangerous dog acts that can extend to almost an enquiry launch from someone fearing your dog looking at them, we need to be on the ball.
Cheers
Nev
jeff jones (03-04-2011), Robert Santori (03-04-2011), Shane Johnson (03-12-2011)
[=Neville Patterson;17371]Although I sympathise with this guy's predicament and understand his motivation, you can't break, enter and steal, get caught on CCTV and expect go get away with it, although a jail term in the circumstances was probably a bit severe.
I have a problem with seizing dogs and the laws governing when a ranger and under what circumstances a dog can be seized are laws we should all be aware of, as quite often, rangers driven by the motivation to get a result and close a dog attack investigation seize dogs when not having substantial enough evidence to lawfully do so at that stage in the investigation and can easily railroad dog owners ignorant of the laws into handing dogs over when the action cannot be legally enforced.
The other issue of vulnerability is the temperament assessment where a dog that doesn't present to strangers with a wagging tail and sloppy kisses be determined as dangerous or faulty in temperament with aloof body language, especially if subject to an attack enquiry as the possible offender wheather it was involved in the incident or not. There are plenty of dogs that won't pass a council temperament assessment and given the stupidity of the dangerous dog acts that can extend to almost an enquiry launch from someone fearing your dog looking at them, we need to be on the ball.
Cheers
Nev[/]
I agree somewhat.The law is the law but it doesnt take into account Human emotion and when people dont have the funds to fight things or are thwarted by beurocracy sometimes they take matters into their own hands be that right or wrong.
I genuinely feel for the bloke and think that the sentence was a tad harsh.Others may not feel the same way but its JMHO.I agree about temp tests and wonder if you are able to get an independent assessor paid for by yourself.If it was me I would be challenging the validity and asking for credentials of said person conducting the test and would want to be there at the time of test.
ETA Stirling city council does have a reputation over here.The Rangers Association President resides there.Sometime ago over here there was an alleged dog attack involving a pitbull at the beach.Dog allegedly attacked a youg boy.I know people that contacted Stirling Rangers to find out about the incident.they didnt want to speak which doesnt surprise me.It was all over the news funnily at the same time they were having their second crack at dangerous dog laws.The fomer mayor was a Labor MP at the time they were in power.What happpend was the kids dog was involved in a melee with said dog.kid tried to remove dog from his.Why I dont know as his father was there.Kid had a large bandage around one finger.No one saw the wound or any blood.he may have gotten grazed by a tooth in the ensuing mele.There was no dog attack as was portrayed in the media.if people think I am a conspiracy theorist i will let you be the judge.
On another note another former mayor of Stirling City Council is under investigation and a warrant has been issued for his arrest by Italian Police over links to the Calabrian Mafia.This is not the first allegation that has been levelled at councillors there.Mr Dorazio who was a serving member of the Gallop Labor Government and was sacked had allegations levelled at him for 'alleged' links in business dealings with members of organised crime.Councillors have been sacked for vote tampering and many other things.Corruption at that council was endemic and probably still is.
Last edited by Shane Johnson; 03-12-2011 at 03:00 PM.
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