Below I have copied what the defence expert witness wrote about her. When you read it you will understand why we are so thrilled to have her with us. Thank you to the defence expert witness who made it possible for her to join our family.
We have named her Elda, a name of Germanic origin meaning warrior (it also means Wise Adviser in Anglo Saxon). Your new life starts today sweetheart. Let’s all be thankful she is finally safe and where she needs to be. Once she has settled we will take some nice photos.
Elda was seized in July 2020 after a second bite incident involving a child. A voluntary order had been made the first time, which the owner subsequently breached. The judge was rightly not pleased with the owner's attitude and ordered that the owner pay substantial compensation. He also received a sentence of 2 years, which was suspended for 2 years. He is also banned for life for having a dog.
The position of the police and the expert they used was that the dog should be destroyed. I have owned and rehabilitated many, many dogs like this, particularly this breed and I believed rehab was appropriate.
The experts had to do a second assessment each last Autumn as agreement could not be reached.
I realised that this dog had not been exercised since seizure. Had no view other than a wall and her kennel was bare of any toy or chew. I raised this with the court and police via a report. The police refused to move the dog to a different kennels. The staff then started interacting with the her and were able to provide daily exercise. This was after a little more than a year of no exercise.
This morning a new report appeared from the prosecution expert who had been back for the third time at the end of March. As this hearing was due today I had no time to properly evaluate this late evidence or go to check again myself.
I attended court and the judge made it clear he wanted to make an order today.
This dog is now going to a breed rescue for rehab. She will wear a lead and muzzle in public and cannot live with children. I look forward to seeing her again in rehab.
Thanks to the rescue for their assistance in offering her help and thanks to my assistant Andy Hoyle for his help at the first assessment.
Keep up to date of Elda's progress via her playlist on YouTube:
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