A TWO-month battle to save a family pet will come to an end today — and it’s Wodonga Council that will foot the bill.
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Ljubisa Stanic’s dog Sonny has spent the last 76 days at the pound under the belief he was an American pitbull terrier — a restricted breed under state law.
But after hiring a lawyer, taking the case to VCAT and having the dog examined by an expert, Mr Stanic yesterday received the call saying he had finally beat the council and would get his dog back.
“I will be getting him back as long as he is able to be desexed,” Mr Stanis said.
“Once the expert looked over him she did a thorough examination and measurements, they couldn’t argue with anything.”
Sonny was walking along Moonya Drive when he was seized by a Wodonga Council ranger on September 26.
At the time, the dog was unregistered and Mr Stanic believed it to be a French mastiff cross.
However, further assessment pointed to Sonny being an American pit bull terrier and the family pet was due to be put down the following day.
Mr Stanic said he was over the moon he could save his pet.
“It was sad that it even went this far with the council spending money on this when they could be spending on other things instead of trying to murder a family pet,” he said.
“I wasn’t allowed to see him when they took him and I couldn’t let him die.”