private note: his termination has been postponed. this is an article just before the decision to postpone it.
translation by Dorte Møller Jakobsen
the dog Thor must after a long time with disagreement , between his owner and the police has now come to an end. The police has today this afternoon at 14,00.desided to put Thor down. Thor came on 23 last September in a fight with the dachshund Mudi. Both dogs escaped unharmed from the fight, but the police took it as an attack from Thor's side, the dog was placed in custody for later to be put down. The police believes that Thor, was a mix dog with the genes of Amstaff mix - and therefore figures in the list of illegal dog breeds.
The dog's owner, Leslie Jorgensen, claiming that his dog is not a Amstaff mix. According to him, the dog is a mix of an Olde English Bulldog and a Mastiff Mallorca - and all three independent experts agree with him.
Society Fair Dog decided to send a request in to the Court in Odense to get court order to have an independent expert to examine whether Thor belong to the list or not. But the association has not yet heard from the court, and the police are not going to wait for answers. They still want to put the dog down as planned.
Animal welfare Rapport: It is a very unfortunate case
The Story of Thor has awaked many people - among Danish People's Party animal welfare spokesman Mr. Dennis Flydtkjær:
- I think it's a really unfortunate case when one chooses to say that a dog to be killed simply because it's the wrong race - and this despite the fact that three dogs experts unanimously say that this is not one of the dogs appearing on the list of illegal racing.
- If there is to be no legal certainty for dog owners, then this matter has to stop, so the dog will not be put down before the case has had final decision on what kind of dog actually he is, Mr. D. Fyldtkjær says to
tv2.dk.
'Alarm bells should ring at the police'
Despite the fact that the current dog law indicates that the burden of proof lies with the dog owner if the police suspect that a dog belongs to the list of illegal racing, Mr. Flydtkjær think that the police need to wake up.
- When there are three independent dog expert who said that this dog does not belong to the list, so I think that there should ring some alarm bells with the police. At the same time there are running a court case, and the dog owner might win, then it's too late if he wins, as is the dog could already be put down.
Danish People's Party animal welfare politician believes that there are a number of challenges on the dogs act - and especially one of them he does not like at all:
- There are clearly a number of challenges by the dog law, and therefore I would also urge the government to get it evaluated already now . One thing that does not work in the dog law is precisely that the law give no certainty for dog owners. It is worrying that you can not challenge his case in court before the police step in and kill the dog.
The Minister of Justice must get into action
He believes that minister of Justice Morten Bødskov (S) must be in on this case and its proceedings
- The Minister of Justice must send a message to the police that it is simply not ok to kill a dog while the case still going on. The Minister of Justice must, as the heads of the police inform the police that enough is enough , and the party stops now.
Dogs Act, which came into force in 2010, should be revised in the course of 2013
Hunden Thor skal efter længere tids tovtrækkeri mellem ejeren og politiet aflives i dag senest klokken 14.
Thor kom den 23. september sidste år op at slås med gravhunden Mudi. Begge hunde slap uskadt fra slåskampen, men da politiet opfattede det som et angreb fra Thors side, blev hunden sat i forvaring med henblik på senere aflivning. Politiet mener nemlig, at Thor, som er en blandingshund, er en Amstaff-blanding - og derfor figurer på listen over ulovlige hunderacer.
Hundens ejer, Leslie Jørgensen, hævder at hans hund aldeles ikke er en Amstaff-blanding. Ifølge ham er hunden en blanding af en Olde English Bulldog og en Mallorca Mastiff - og hele tre uvildige eksperter giver ham ret.
Foreningen Fair Dog har for at redde Thor valgt at sende en anmodning ind til Retten i Odense for at få rettens ord for, at endnu en uvildig ekspert kan undersøge om Thor hører til på listen eller ej. Men foreningen har endnu ikke hørt fra retten, og politiet har ikke tænkt sig at vente på svar.
Dyrevelfærdsordfører: Det er en meget uheldig sag
Historien om Thor har fået mange op af stolen - her i blandt Dansk Folkepartis dyrevelfærdsordfører Dennis Flydtkjær:
- Jeg synes, at det er en rigtig uheldig sag, når man vælger at sige, at en hund skal aflives alene fordi, det er en forkert race - og det på trods af at tre hundesagkyndige enstemmigt siger, at det her ikke er en af de hunde, der figurerer på listen over de ulovlige racer.
- Hvis der skal være noget retssikkerhed for hundeejere, så skal denne her sag stoppes, så hunden ikke bliver aflivet, inden der er kommet en endelig afgørelse på, hvilken slags hunderace der faktisk er tale om, siger han til
tv2.dk.
'Alarmklokkerne burde ringe hos politiet'
På trods af at den nuværende hundelov angiver at bevisbyrden ligger hos hundeejeren, hvis politiet har en formodning om, at en hund hører til på listen over ulovlige racer, så mener Flydtkjær, at politiet skal vågne op.
- Når der er tre uafhængige hundesagkyndige, der har sagt, at denne hund ikke hører til på listen, så synes jeg, at der burde ringe nogle alarmklokker hos politiet. Når der samtidig kører en sag, og hundeejeren måske vinder, så er det jo for sent, for så er hunden jo aflivet.
Dansk Folkepartis dyrevelfærdsordfører mener, at der er en række udfordringer ved hundeloven - og specielt én af dem går ham på:
- Der er helt klart en række udfordringer ved hundeloven, og derfor vil jeg også opfordre regeringen til at få den evalueret allerede nu. En ting der ikke fungerer i hundeloven er jo netop denne her retssikkerhed for hundeejerne. Det er betænkeligt at man ikke kan få prøvet sin sag i retten, inden politiet skrider ind og afliver hunden.
Justitsministeren må banke i bordet
Han mener, at Justitsminister Morten Bødskov (S) må på banen i sagen:
- Justitsministeren må sende en besked til politiet om, at det simpelthen ikke er ok at aflive en hund, mens sagen endnu ikke er afgjort. Justitsministeren må som den øverst ansvarlige for politiet banke i bordet og sige, at nu stopper festen altså.
Hundeloven, som trådte i kraft i 2010, skal revideres i løbet af 2013.
