A dangerous dog which savaged a woman in Dundee, biting off part of her ear, is said to be running free in Fife.
Staffordshire terrier Kai has been on death row in connection with the attack for more than two years, costing the taxpayer thousands of pounds in kennel charges.
At Dundee Sheriff Court, as a renewed bid was made to destroy the dog, owner Gemma Duncan claimed her pet was involved in a case of mistaken identity.
She told a sheriff that the animal’s brother dog Kaii was in fact responsible for the attack.
The court has now ruled that Duncan must prove the identity of the dog or the saga will be brought to an end with its destruction.
The dog has been held in the kennels by police since June 2013 when officers removed it from Duncan’s home, after a woman was savaged.
It was said to have been in the control of her brother Derek Duncan, 25, who at the time claimed the dog belonged to his sister. Police located the dog at her house and it has been kept it in the kennels near Dundee, costing an estimated £30,000, at taxpayers’ expense.
However it is now the subject of an identity battle after Ms Duncan, 31, claimed they had taken the wrong dog.
She claims the police took her dog Kai, which she says was not involved in the attack in 2012. She blames her brother’s dog, which has the same name but is spelt Kaii. Duncan told the court it came from the same litter and was now living “somewhere in Fife”.
After a previous legal attempt by police was abandoned, Kai was due to be returned to Ms Duncan last week, however Dundee City Council then stepped in with their own legal action to have the dog destroyed and it remains in the kennels.
At a hearing in Dundee Sheriff Court yesterday, solicitors acting for Dundee City Council asked Sheriff Tom Hughes to grant the destruction order.
However he deferred a decision for a proof of identity hearing next month.