By Hamish Heard
A VICTORIAN Civil and Administrative Tribunal decision to reject Hobsons Bay council’s claims that a labradoodle puppy had menaced a postman has embarrassed management at Williamstown’s post office.
The postman whose complaints to Hobsons Bay council led to the puppy being added to a list of menacing animals, Peter Ward, contacted Star to clarify several points that he said were left off a transcript of the VCAT ruling.
“My boss is a bit embarrassed about it,” Mr Ward said.
A front page story last week told how the puppy was facing a life ban on being in public without a muzzle or lead until VCAT ruled that the council was wrong to classify the pooch a menace.
The tribunal was told that the dog rushed Mr Ward on two occasions, one of which resulted in him injuring his leg, according to a transcript.
But Mr Ward said the dog had harassed him almost daily for six months before the council decided to add it to the menacing dogs list.
“I said to someone from the factory where the dog’s owner, Rachael Turner, works that I didn’t want to get cleaned up by a truck while I was looking out for the dog, and they agreed to make sure it was restrained,” Mr Ward said.
But the promise went unfulfilled and the barking dog continued to greet him during his round, he said.
“I won’t say the dog was a menace but it certainly was a nuisance and to say that this whole thing was based on two incidents is not correct,” Mr Ward said.
He said a council officer had insisted that he contact the council every time the dog was seen roaming at large near the factory in Bentley St, Williamstown North.
“I’d be riding along and the next thing it would have run up and surprised me, barking really loudly,” Mr Ward said.
“It was the council’s decision to call the dog a menace, not mine, I thought it was a bit strong.
“I think the council just wanted the owner to take it more seriously because you can’t have dogs just running around free,” he said.
And Mr Ward was also unhappy about people’s descriptions of the dog as a puppy.
“It’s the size of a labrador,” he said.
