ARTICLE FROM THE CHRONICAL HERALD MARCH 9, 2010

N.S. court to rule on Brindi's fate after assessment

By PAT LEE Staff Reporter | UPDATED 7:26 p.m.

After a court-sanctioned behavioural assessment is done on Brindi, some animal advocates hope the dog is spared death but not given back to owner Francesca Rogier.

Well-known dog trainer Bob Ottenbrite said Tuesday he and others have made arrangements for a suitable home for Brindi and he will supervise her training, if the court agrees.

“Brindi is a good dog,” he said Tuesday. “So we’re offering the third option of placing her in a home so she doesn’t have to be put down. A group of us have gotten together to put that out there.”

Rogier, of East Chezzetcook, was found guilty in February of being the owner of a dog running at large, owning a dog that attacked another animal and failing to comply with a muzzle order.

Rogier’s sentencing, and Brindi’s fate, were postponed on Tuesday when Rogier asked for time to have an expert assess the six-year-old mixed breed.

Since Halifax Regional Municipality’s Animal Services branch seized Brindi about 20 months ago, the dog has been held at the SPCA shelter in Dartmouth.

Judge Alanna Murphy agreed to delay proceedings until April 16 when she will review the animal expert’s findings.

Brindi, whom Rogier adopted from Celtic Pets in Port Hastings — which the SPCA shut down in 2008 for inhumane treatment of its animals — was under a muzzle order in the summer of 2008 because of complaints about her behaviour. On July 20, she ran off Rogier’s property and attacked a dog being walked along East Chezzetcook Road.

Animal Services had originally ordered the dog euthanized, but a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge ruled that portions of the bylaw authorizing Brindi’s killing exceeded the municipality’s power.

A few days later, the city laid charges against Rogier.

Rogier continues to insist that Brindi be returned to her. She said Tuesday that she has proposed private training sessions or moving out of the municipality with the dog. But finding a new home for Brindi is not an option, she said.

“We’ve bonded and she recognizes me,” she said. “I think this dog has had a raw deal and I (gave her) the only home she’s ever known.”

During the February court appearance, Ottenbrite made it known that he would adopt Brindi and keep her at his kennel in South Rawdon, but he has since rescinded the offer. He said supporters of Rogier threatened him and his dog training business and he feared for Brindi’s safety.

“I do not feel that Brindi would be safe here,” he said Tuesday. “I think that she would probably be stolen.”

But Ottenbrite is still offering to work with Brindi and he said he has made arrangements with another suitable owner, who does not want to be named at this time.

Ottenbrite said he and other local animal trainers have tried to work with Rogier in the past. Rogier formerly had Brindi in Ottenbrite’s obedience and agility classes.

“There were a lot of us, several trainers that I know who are really good trainers and can make all the difference in the world, but each one of them has become fed up with what’s going on,” he said.

He said many people support an option other than killing the dog or returning her to Rogier.

“There’s hundreds of people out there of the same opinion,” Ottenbrite said. The city has never said whether it would support a deal to spare Brindi’s life and find her a new home.

The SPCA wrote to the city in February asking that the dog’s life be spared.

“It is the society’s belief that Brindi could be safely placed (in another home),” said executive director Kristin Williams. “Brindi has demonstrated over the last 18 months that she can live peacefully and happily with a responsible owner.”

Janet Chernin, who runs a dog daycare in Halifax and is a founding member of Advocates for Responsible Pet Ownership, said the drawn-out Brindi case highlights the need for an impartial panel to mediate animal control issues.

“This clearly shows why we need an ombudsman, why we need a panel of experts to judge cases in an unbiased manner,” said Chernin, who wants Brindi spared but not returned to Rogier.

Rogier said she will appeal any decision that does not return Brindi to her.

( plee@herald.ca)