The fate of Rottweiler Chopper, who bit a Tauranga veterinarian, is still unsure after the judge scheduled his choice throughout sentencing yeseterday.
The dog’s owner Helen Fraser was because of be sentenced at the Tauranga District Court after being founded guilty of owning a dog triggering injury.
Judge David Cameron said there was a great deal of product to think about and he required “sufficient time” prior to deciding.
The charge brings an optimal sentence of 3 years jail time or a $20,000 fine, and the court needs to purchase damage of the dog unless remarkable scenarios can be shown.
Fraser’s dog Chopper bit vet Dr Liza Schneider throughout an appointment to talk about the dog’s neutering in October 2021.
The attack left Schneider, the owner of Holistic Vets, with a fractured ulna, 4 leak injuries, nerve and muscle damage and needed surgical treatment.
Tauranga City Council at first stopped working in its prosecution when Judge Cameron dismissed the charge in July 2022, after a judge alone trial kept in June that year.
The council appealed this choice specifying they felt the judge had actually made an “error of law” by concentrating on the conduct of the victim, instead of Fraser’s legal duty to manage her dog at all times.
The appeal judge Justice Timothy Brewer maintained the appeal and founded guilty Fraser of the charge.
He concurred with the council that “Judge Cameron erred in his consideration of the test [for total absence of fault]”.
“The onus was on Ms Fraser to prove that she was totally without fault. In other words, that there were literally no practical steps she could have taken to avert the attack,” said Justice Brewer’s composed choice.
During the sentencing hearing, Schneider read her victim effect declaration to a congested courtroom. One half of the general public gallery was filled with individuals there in assistance of Schneider, the other half were there for Fraser.
“This was the most aggressive and unprovoked attack I have ever experienced in my 22-year career as a veterinarian, which has included working with aggressive and dangerous dogs,” she said.
“Had I not put my arm up in defence, the dog would likely have caused damage to my head or neck,” she declared.
Schneider said the injury and 2 subsequent surgical treatments at first avoided her from performing her “normal duties” as a veterinarian.
“My team of four other vets did everything they could to help, but my inability to do surgery and even basic procedures placed a massive strain on our team and we were unable to continue accepting new clients.”
Schneider said the business had actually lost around $60,000 in lost profits and her overall expenses to the business brought on by the occurrence was more than $100,000.
She likewise declared harassment and disparagement had actually been triggered from social networks posts and talk about the ‘Team Chopper’ Facebook page and Fraser’s and her adult kid’s personal Facebook and Instagram pages, along with the Holistic Vets Facebook page.
“The physical injuries as well as the mental and emotional stress associated with Chopper’s attack, pales in significance compared to the psychological damage caused by subsequent harassment, by Helen, her son … and their associates,” declared Scheinder.
She declared there were “untruths, discriminatory negative, derogatory and abusive comments” directed at her and her business.
“While not all posts can be attributed to Helen and Ryan, they instigated and host the forums and their followers to attack me and the clinic,” declared Schneider.
“I wish to make clear that I have not had any part in the decision making regarding the prosecution against Helen, Chopper’s impoundment, the appeal or Chopper’s fate.
“As a vet it was my social responsibility and my duty to ensure that a serious and unprovoked attack … was reported to the appropriate authorities.”
Fraser’s attorney Lynne Mathieson applied for a discharge without conviction.
“We’re submitting that the consequences of this conviction will be out of proportion to the gravity of the offending,” said Mathieson.
She said it was “quite a simple case” where the 2 celebrations had various expectations of how the procedure must go.
During the trial, proof was considered that for Chopper’s appointment it was concurred they would meet the veterinarian in the carpark due to the fact that Fraser said the dog was nervous around individuals he didn’t understand.
Fraser said they lingered thirty minutes to be seen, so she got Chopper out of the car and had her kid hold him while she entered into the center to learn the reason for the hold-up.
When Schneider went to fulfill Fraser in the carpark, she approached Chopper and spoke in a loud voice to be heard through her mask, the court heard.
When the veterinarian was within 2 metres of Chopper he lunged and bit her arm.
The trial revealed there was a conflict over whether Fraser was asked to keep Chopper in the car for evaluation.
The center staff affirmed they did so when setting up the appointment however Fraser said she was never ever asked to leave the dog in the car.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Mathieson said Fraser had no criminal convictions and she was “remorseful for the harm caused”.
Prior to the charge being submitted, Fraser worked as a monetary consultant and home mortgage broker, however due to the fact that of the stress and anxiety and tension, consisting of taking care of a dog in the pound, she used up a base pay retail job, said Mathieson.
Fraser gone to Chopper at the Tauranga Pound almost daily for the 271 days he existed.
The offender planned to go back to operate in the monetary sector and a regulative conviction although not criminal, might affect that, said Mathieson.
“She certainly intends to return to work in that sector if possible. And she has very real fears that a conviction of this kind will affect those wishes significantly.
“Given the gravity of the offending versus the potential impairment regarding future employment in her chosen field [that] she’s experienced in, I would submit that a discharge without conviction is certainly appropriate.”
In concerns to the claims of harassment and disparagement, Mathieson said; “We can’t hold the defendant or try and hold her accountable for the actions of other people that she has no control over.”
She said for the function of the discharge without conviction application, “comments regarding social media should be set aside”.
If Fraser were to be founded guilty, making Chopper’s euthanasia obligatory, they would get remarkable scenarios, said Mathieson.
If remarkable scenarios might be shown then the judge would not purchase Chopper to be put down.
Counsel for Tauranga City Council Jodi Libbey reacted to Mathieson’s arguments: “It is time for the defendant be held accountable for what she’s been found guilty of”.
“As the high court made clear, it is the defendant’s conduct that is under scrutiny here.
“It’s her dog and her responsibility to take all reasonable steps to avert an attack. The high court found she failed to take two very simple steps, keeping the dog in the car. Or otherwise she could have kept control of chopper herself rather than letting him be held by her 13-year-old son.”
“In regards to the gravity of upseting the offender asserts the gravity is low. And I would state that the right categorisation is reasonably major to major,” said Libbey.
The sentencing has actually been postponed up until August 21 at the Tauranga District Court.
By Alisha Evans, Local Democracy Reporter
Public Interest Journalism moneyed through NZ On Air.
