City council seizes 49 pit-bulls

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Almost 50 pit-bull terriers have been surrendered to Belfast City Council since May of last year.

Eighteen of the 49 dogs were handed over this January, the council said. Prosecutions are currently pending in respect of seven dogs.

Since May 2006 the council has dealt with 128 complaints regarding alleged pit-bulls. The 49 it has taken possession of are to be destroyed.

Meanwhile, 15 pit-bulls have been put down during a dog amnesty in Ballymena.

In the first such scheme in the UK, Ballymena Borough Council gave owners of pit-bulls and other dogs bred for fighting a month to hand in animals without fear of prosecution.

At a council meeting on Monday night councillors were told that 61 dogs had been examined.

The 15 confirmed as illegal were humanely destroyed, acting chief executive Maurice Watterson said.

Belfast City Council said it was reluctant to go down the way of an amnesty "as it would mean compromising our enforcement obligations".

"In partnership with the USPCA, we have developed a procedure which we believe deals with the problem of dangerous dogs in an effective and practical way," council dog warden manager Nigel Cardwell said.

"The USPCA works with our dog warden service on the identification issue and we will pursue a warrant to have a dog surrendered if we believe that dog is an illegal breed, and if the owner is unwilling to hand it over."

Mr Cardwell said the council was committed to tackling the issue of dangerous dogs as it was a matter of great concern to the public.

Attack

Ballymena became the first local authority in the UK to hold a pit-bull amnesty after an attack on a family in County Antrim in November 2006.

Sean and Deirdre Doherty, their son Ben and a family friend escaped with only minor injuries after an horrific attack by a pit bull-type dog in Randalstown Forest Park.

Their pet labrador, Troy, was killed in the attack.

Mrs Doherty, from Antrim town, said Troy sacrificed himself to stop the pit-bull from attacking her son and welcomed the results of the amnesty.

"It's 15 less of those dogs which are, as Ballymena Dog Warden Nigel Devine said, unpredictable," she said.

"That is 15 off the streets. We were never going to reach the more hard core but it is 15 less. Any kind of indentation is good."

She has written to councils across Northern Ireland and she wants them to follow Ballymena's pitbull amnesty lead.

Mrs Doherty is now writing to assembly members to get a review of the dangerous dogs act and she says what is needed is for pit-bull breeders to be hunted down.

Omagh District Council is holding an amnesty and Newry and Mourne District Council and Derry City Council are also considering such a move.