By VANESSA VALENZUELA
THE OWNERS of a pitbull cross that killed St Albans toddler Ayen Chol intentionally concealed their restricted breed dog from Brimbank City Council, a coroner has found.
Four-year-old Ayen Chol was killed after a neighbours’ pitbull cross mauled her to death in her family home in August last year.
Coroner Kim Parkinson’s ruling released last Friday found Mr Lazor Josevski and his son Nick Josevski, owners of the dog named ‘Rex’, contributed to Ayen’s death by deliberately concealing the pitbull cross from the relevant authorities and failing to keep the dog locked up as required under restricted breed dog laws.
“I am satisfied that the failure to update the council records on the part of the ‘owners’ of the dog, was a deliberate and successful attempt to conceal the dog from the authorities and to avoid the scrutiny, supervision and limitations associated with owning a restricted dog breed,” Ms Parkinson said.
In her findings, Ms Parkinson said the owners had not complied with the legal requirements despite extensive publicity and education campaigns and enforcement attempts made by local government bodies and the Department of Primary Industries.
She said Brimbank City Council had allocated extensive resources and actively pursued the regulation and management of animals, including restricted breed dogs, in its community.
“That they [the Council] were unaware of the existence of the dog is not due to a lack of vigilance on the part of council or its officers, but rather as a result of the deliberate concealing of the animal,” Ms Parkinson said.
Ms Parkinson recommended in her finding that the Domestic Animals Act 1994 needed to be amended to require veterinarians to report to the authorities any restricted breed dog that they treat which is not registered, neutered and miro-chipped.
She also recommended that the Victorian Parliament prohibit the breeding of restricted breed dogs and that criminal charges should apply to any breeding activity.
Mr Lazor Josevski was fined $11,000 after pleading guilty to four charges over the fatal dog attack in July.
