An eleventh-hour appeal has been launched to save a dog from destruction after an incident in Angus.
Douglas, a three-year-old St Bernard from Bulgaria, is on death row after its keeper admitted being in control of the animal when it savaged another dog and attacked its owner in Arbroath.
A sheriff ordered the dog’s destruction as it was judged to be dangerously out of control at the West Links, and this was not originally contested in Forfar Sheriff Court on June 6.
But local solicitors Whelan & Co have submitted a note of appeal to the Sheriff Appeal Court in Edinburgh, finalised on Friday – the last possible date for appeal – and Douglas will be kept until the appeal is determined.
The firm is understood to be pursuing the appeal pro bono, or undertaken without charge, along with advocate Claire Mitchell and the faculty appeals unit, as owners Saving Saints Rescue UK are a registered charity.
Four-month-old jackadoodle Buzz was put down after it and owner Sarah Connor were attacked by the rescue dog on May 10.
Sheriff Gregor Murray ordered the dog’s destruction but stopped short of banning 60-year-old Phillip Pudney from keeping other animals, on the understanding that he would pay Ms Connor to buy another dog.
Fiscal depute Jill Drummond said at the time: “For the past three weeks he had Douglas, originally from Bulgaria, where the tips of his ears and tail were cut off and he was used to guard sheep.”
Ms Drummond said Douglas’ behaviour had improved to the point where it was felt the dog could be let off the lead, but was fitted with an electric collar.
“At 9.30am on May 10 witness Connor approached the paddling pool area of West Links and saw witness Brown and the accused with six dogs on and off the lead,” she added.
She “did not get a good feeling” and walked away from them while Buzz was on the lead, but was chased by Douglas and a rottweiler before the attack.
Defence agent Lynne Sturrock said her client had made an “error in judgment” in letting the dog off the lead.
“He has volunteered and trained dogs for some 30 years,” she said.
“Mr Pudney wholly apologises to the court and to the owner of the dog.
“He did try to control the animal through the collar and other means but that was not successful.”
Pudney, of Keptie Road, Arbroath was also fined £500.
A date has yet to be fixed for the appeal hearing.
The Sheriff Appeal Court was established on September 22 2015, as part of Lord Gill’s Scottish Civil Courts Reforms, to deal with criminal appeals.
It hears appeals against summary criminal proceedings from both the sheriff and justice of the peace courts.
The bench generally comprises two or three appeal sheriffs depending on the type of appeal to be considered.
The criminal court sits in the courthouse in Lawnmarket, Edinburgh.
