11 more days for Punky, as death row dog wins last minute reprieve

Punky was set to be destroyed on Aug. 12 at noon.

But the four-year-old Australian cattle dog got a last minute reprieve on Monday, so that his owner can consider whether to try to take the dog's case to the Supreme Court of Canada.

On Friday, the B.C. Court of Appeal upheld past rulings thatPunky was a dangerous dog and should be destroyed, leaving the dog's owner in tears in the courtroom after a two-year legal battle to save hislife.

Animal rights lawyer Victoria ShroffsaidPunky's hours were numbered by the time she got confirmation from the prosecutor that she'd been granted atemporary delay before the dog is destroyed. That came Mondaymorning after she began pleading Friday.

"I had wonderful news this morning," she said.

Shroffsaid Punky will be spareduntil Aug. 23 to give his owner and legal team time to decide if they plan to try to take his case even higherand seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

It turns out Punky's case has sparked a lot of legal questions.

Shroff said in her 20 years experience this is the first dangerous dog case she has dealt with at the Court of Appeal level. She said that the decision published Friday ruled that provincial court judges do not have jurisdiction to makeconditional orders to release dangerous dogsor make any decision short of of destruction.

Destruction order, last straw

It's unclear what that will mean in the future. Some fear the precedent will lead to more dogs being destroyed.

Lawyer RebekaBrederactingfor the B.C. SPCA feared Punky's casecould erase the power of the courts to release animals on specific conditions, a tool she's used to save dogs for years.

"Now, as a result of this case, the power of the court to do so is, unfortunately, completely eliminateda devastating effect on dogs in the future," Breder wrote in an email to CBC.

Shroff agreed more dog deaths was a risk.

But she said the precedent could also translate into better prevention and negotiated releases, at a lower level.

'Once destroyed, he or she is gone'

In other places in Canada, she said, other options such as muzzling, penning and trainingare fully explored before a dog is killed.

"The destruction order should be the very, very last thing that happens because it is not reversible," she said.

"It's not like you seize property, like a car or a computer. It is a sentient being, and once that isdestroyed, he or she is gone."

Punky's owner, Susan Santics, says her dog deserved more options. But now the animal faces death again in 11 days.

Punky ended up on doggy death row after he bit a woman in an off-leash park in 2017. After that, he was ruled dangerous by a provincial court judge. That decision was appealed.

But the B.C. Supreme Court agreedand on Friday, so didthree justices of the B.C. Court of Appeal.

Justice PatriceAbrioux wrote in the unanimous three-judge ruling that "given Punky's past behaviour, temperament and lack of rehabilitation prospects," he posed an unacceptable risk and needed to be destroyed.

Punky has been in city custody for two years, eversince he attacked Alyssa PrattasatLocarno Park on Aug.27, 2017.

Prattas has filed a civil lawsuit that alleges thatPunky charged, repeatedly lunged and bither legs and hands, causing serious injuries.

'People make mistakes, dogs bite'

"It was a horrible thing for this last victim. I admit it. I wouldn't want to go through it. But people make mistakes. Dogs bite. We learn how to train them, which I have done for the last two years," said Santicsoutside the courthouseon Friday.

Since then, dozens of people have reached out offering to adopt the dogand suggesting he be relocated or some other option be found, other than destruction.