ruthless Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 (edited) On the 4th of February 2014, a much loved family dog named Ruby was impounded by Ku-Ring-Gai Council in Sydney, Australia, after escaping her property. She was found playing with the children at the local primary school. Upon impounding it was found that Ruby had been declared a Restricted Dog (a 'Pit Bull Terrier' cross) by the Hills Shire Council in Sydney in 2011, when she was owned by someone else. New South Wales legislation allows an owner to contest this declaration through a breed and/or temperament assessment however her previous owner had not carried this out when the Council notified him of their intention to declare her restricted, which meant that Ruby was automatically declared a 'Restricted Dog' without further assessment or any appeal. Under this same legislation, a Restricted Dog cannot be rehomed. When Ruby's owners took her on they had no idea of this declaration and are now devastated as she is not legally allowed to be released to them. She has currently been impounded for over two weeks. The Hills Shire Council can rectify this and give Ruby a second chance. Under the New South Wales Guidelines, the declaring Council can revoke the Restricted Dog declaration on Ruby, to allow the process to be started again so she can be breed and temperament assessed, as she should have been back in 2011. Ruby's temperament is impeccable and both Ku-Ring-Gai Council and Ruby's owners are confident she will pass any temperament test administered. When requested to do this by both Ruby's owners and Ku-Ring-Gai Council, the Hills Shire Council took two weeks to respond and then informed the owners that the answer was no - essentially signing Ruby's death warrant, as her previous owner is unable to reclaim her. There is no reason for the Hills Shire Council to deny this request. Ruby has never been involved in any aggressive incidents, and she was never afforded a breed or temperament test as she deserved when they first declared her Restricted. She has a loving and responsible family willing to do anything they need to to bring her home, and Ku-Ring-gai Council are more than happy to have her residing within their council area after she has been breed and temperament tested as per the legislation. Only two months ago, Blacktown Council in Sydney revoked a declaration on another dog in very similar circumstances - why won't the Hills Shire do the same? We as a community expect better from our Councils. We expect them to do everything possible to keep dogs that have caused no harm with their loving families. We understand that they are working within faulty legislation that includes breed-specific restrictions, and that sometimes they have absolutely no choice or wiggle room when it comes to the outcomes of individual dogs and families. This is NOT the case with Ruby - the Hills Shire Council can afford her a chance while working within all provisions of the NSW Companion Animals Act - and yet they have refused to do so. Signing this petition will enable us to send an email to the Hills Shire Council Mayor and Councillors on your behalf, requesting that they do the right thing for Ruby and her loving family, and revoke the declaration. She, and they, should not be punished for her previous owner's inaction, and she deserves her right of appeal. For those who live within Hills Shire Council, or if you know somebody who does, please email your local Councillor separately and let them know as a voter in the area you expect for them to revoke Ruby's declaration. The contact info for Councillors is here: http://www.thehills.nsw.gov.au/Councillors.html#.Uwm26vSSydP While we are fighting for Ruby to be given a chance at life, the impounding costs to her family are rising. Please consider contributing towards the cause. The community's support in cases like this ensure that we can provide families with the best resources and work towards a positive outcome for them and the community as a whole. Account Name: Team Dog Account Number: 10219543 BSB: 062654 Together, we can see Ruby home with her loving family. Watch the video: Sign the petition: http://bit.ly/HelpRuby Edited February 27, 2014 by ruthless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fbaudry Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Signed... Do you think you'd have more exposure in the general thread Ruth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VizslaMomma Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 (edited) Signed the petition. Also contacted friends that live in that area. Hopefully they too will join the cause. Edited February 24, 2014 by VizslaMomma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_PL_ Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 She's so adorable and squishy faced 2nd-ing: Maybe have this moved to general. How much longer will they hold her for? (error message when signing, I'll try again later) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruthless Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share Posted February 25, 2014 Ruby's story has this morning made front page of the Hills Shire Times website - a fantastic article put together by Senior Editor Bev Jordan. Thank you Bev for your compassionate and balanced reporting. See the article here: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/the-hills/ruby-the-dog-will-be-put-down-unless-the-hills-shire-council-allows-a-second-opinion/story-fngr8i1f-1226836575350 We are up to a staggering 5,530 signatures in a day and a half on the petition. What an incredible response from the community. We can't thank you enough for sharing Ruby's plight. We need a little more from you now, however. We need to see numbers at the Hills Shire Council meeting tonight. Ruby's family and Team Dog will be there, but we need you to come along as well, to show just how much we as a community care about families and their pets. 7:00pm TONIGHT 25th February 3 Columbia Court Baulkham Hills NSW 2153 It doesn't matter if you don't live in the Hills Shire - come along to listen to the proceedings and show in numbers how much we care. If you live in the Hills Shire or Ku-Ring-Gai Council areas PLEASE consider putting your name down to speak to the Councillors. This doesn't have to be long winded - you are only given three minutes maximum to speak. It can be as simple as one or two sentences letting the Councillors know that you support the revocation of Ruby. We can't stress enough that whether Ruby's declaration is revoked tonight relies almost completely on how many members of the community attend and how many are willing to speak and raise Ruby's plight with the Councillors. If you think you might like to speak, but aren't sure what to say, send us a message and we can help you out. We cannot stress enough how important it is that anyone that attends stays calm and polite at all times. It is easy to become frustrated in situations like Ruby's but expressing this frustration could jeopardise her survival. Don't speak up unless you've signed up to the list and been invited to speak. We look forward to seeing you there tonight. Time to really, really #RallyForRuby Continue to share the Petition: http://bit.ly/HelpRuby And the video: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruthless Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share Posted February 25, 2014 Ku-Ring-Gai Council are happy to hold Ruby until all options have been exhausted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ams Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 signed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiecuddles Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Signed, what a gorgeous squishy faced girl! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Gifts Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Signed. Good luck tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Bloody Councils . The sooner they abolished the better. Too many of them have too many people who have too much power and too little intelligence let alone ability to make any sort of decision or take decisive action. You might gather from that, that I've had a few dealings of late with councils and, frankly, it is not a very comforting experience when faced with people who, almost to a person, say whatever it is you are enquiring about is someone else's responsibility. Petition signed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loving my Oldies Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Up to 6,418 signatories. The only thing that worries me about these sorts of petitions is that someone with a false sense of his/her own importance will say: I'll show them who's boss Hopefully Ruby will be back with her family in quick smart time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic.B Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Wishing you and Ruby the very best. She is in good hands with you and is simply gorgeous. BHSC are a very difficult council to work with in terms of any dog chipped to their councilarea. Keep fighting for Ruby even if it is tiny steps forward while she remains legaly safe and sound. You know this already I know Good luck Ruby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tibbie_tabbie Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Signed. If I was anywhere close I would be at that meeting. Poor Ruby, she needs to go home to her family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph M Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Signed. I'll bet while stuffing around penalising the innocent here there have been other things that actually matter council should have been attending to. Idiotic. Will share on Facebook too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juice Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Done, I am over the other side of the road, so don't come under the Hills. I would be there tonight in a flash ,and speak, but have a gig in town, darn. Good luck guys! she looks like a dougue x. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
❤LovesPoodles❤ Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Signed! Fingers crossed for a good outcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic.B Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Another good luck wish for Ruby and those advocating on her behalf tonight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lululove Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 signed. Hope Ruby is home very soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCresties Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Signed - wishing Ruby and her family the best of luck to get her back home again soon :crossfingers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankdog Posted February 25, 2014 Share Posted February 25, 2014 Done but unfortunately too late to attend. Great mistake is assuming councils need a reason to not be obnoxious and hard a$$3d. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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