04 April 2024 , 09:20
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A grandmother has become the first person ordered to have her XL Bully destroyed in accordance with new laws banning the breed of dangerous dog.
Josephine Fitzpatrick, rescued the canine just a year ago when she found it walking alone, freezing and hungry on the sand dunes in Formby, Merseyside, taking the six week old puppy home and nursing it back to health. However, the 41 year old failed to declare the dog, who she named Bleu, when the government introduced new restrictions in February, banning the breed and demanding that all owners of XL Bullies register their pets at the vet.
According to the new rules, owners must obtain a valid Certificate of Exemption from the police in order to keep their dog or face criminal charges, as well as losing their pet. Just over two weeks after the new laws came into affect, police found Bleu at Fitzpatrick's home in Waterloo near Liverpool, hidden inside a locked room, whilst attending the property on a completely separate matter. The dog was seized and kept in kennels and Fitzpatrick was charged under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
Josephine Fitzpatrick, rescued the canine just a year ago when she found it walking alone, freezing and hungry (Jodie Fitzpatrick/ Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)This week, after Fitzpatrick pleaded guilty to possessing a fighting dog, it was ordered that Bleu be destroyed. The court heard that Fitzpatrick relies on state benefits, receiving just £300 per month to live on and therefore could not afford to apply to register her dog for exemption to the bill. On the day of the police raid that saw Bleu seized from Fitzpatrick's care, another canine owned by the grandmother, a Lurcher called Percie, escaped the property through an open door while officers were on scene. He was found four days later but sadly, had been struck by a car and also had to be put down.
Following Fitzpatrick's court case, here lawyer Marcella Salter said: ""She found the dog in sand dunes on Formby beach when it was approximately six weeks old. She took it home and looked after him because he was unwell when she found him. She had thought he was dead. She looked after it to good health. The dog lived with the defendant, her 20-year-old daughter and another dog, a Lurcher called Percie
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"I appreciate that Blue is an XL Bully. She should have registered the dog with the vet and had him checked which is what the Government allows for. Unfortunately, finances did not prevail. She simply did not have the money to pay for the dog to become exempt, for the insurance etc. She knows that she has lost Blue and she has also lost Percie.
After Fitzpatrick pleaded guilty to possessing a fighting dog, it was ordered that Bleu be destroyed (Jodie Fitzpatrick/ Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)She is in receipt of Universal Credit and is on an income of £300 per month. She says she is "thoroughly ashamed that she had to come to court, but she "understands that she has come here and pleaded guilty." During the trial, the court heard that Bleu had exhibited signs of aggressive behaviour while in remand, but Salter argued that this would have been due to stress caused by unknown circumstances and people surrounding the dog.
She also noted that Fitzpatrick is not opposing the destruction order but she does not have the finances to cover the £614 kennel costs ordered by Merseyside Police. Fitzpatrick was conditionally discharged for 12-months. It comes just days after former builder, Patrick McKeown from Tarring, West Sussex, became the first person in the UK to be prosecuted for owning an unregistered XL Bully. His dog was also ordered to be destroyed.