QLD Council - How to Rectify Issues with Neighbour's Dog?

[DaveK]

A breakthrough of sorts - I have just been contacted by the Council's manager responsible for the internal review, and he has decided that it is best to call in external independent consultants to review his review, and they should be coming next week to see me. This will involve them driving down my driveway, where they will probably be waylaid by the dog, and they can make their own minds up about how aggressive it is.

I get the impression that my photos of the dog on the roadside verge and on the bitumen have carried more weight than those on my property.

 

[Rod]

Good news. Ask for the timelines of the next steps and don't be afraid to hassle them for a shorter time period.

 

[DaveK]

The independent consultant came on Tuesday and interviewed me for over an hour. Some of his questions point towards the dog owners having told a lot of tall tales about the situation - me photographing them with a telephoto lens camera, other neighbourly disputes with them, etc.

He was most surprised to see my actual (non-telephoto) camera. He asked to copy all my photos covering the time period, and my full correspondence and notes file - which I was happy to let him have. He said his report would take 3 days, (Council's previous reviews have taken 5 weeks) and then the Council would need time to review it, before making their latest determination. He was then going to visit the dog owners.

The following day he emailed that the dog owners' house appeared to be empty, and so I went for a look, and yes, they seem to have left. They were there on the Saturday, and gone on the Wednesday.

So maybe the Council's procrastination was merely an excuse to give them time to leave, after which Council action would no longer be necessary.

I shall be pursuing information on Council's right to procrastinate indefinitely, and will let you know.

 

[Rod]

Thanks for the update. Good news.

 

[DaveK]

In fact the independent review wasn't submitted to Council until 20 January, and then Council took another month to digest it. They released the independent review to me on 20 February 2017. Its basic finding were that :

• "Council did not appropriately respond to and deal with the animal control complaint",
  
• "Council did not appropriately communicate with the complainant during the investigation",
  
• "Council upheld natural justice principles in regard to the complainant, yet created a risk by giving unbalanced attention to counterclaims by the dog owner without addressing non-compliance"
• "There are systemic issues regarding the handling of complaints that led to the aforementioned adverse findings, including a lack of public advice, operational procedures and internal training"

Of course it was a lot more detailed than that, and somewhat confusing even to someone like me who was intimately involved in it. There were also recommendations for changes to Council's operational procedures.

Throughout, all the inappropriate actions and non-actions, seem to be due to one Local Law Officer taking the dog owner's side on everything.

So I emailed my questions to Council, and asking whether they were going to now give a final report on all the complaints. They responded saying no, all the responses were contained in the independent report, (they still don't seem to have learned anything from the process). Adding that if I was still not satisfied, then to take the matter to the Queensland Ombudsman.

So I have lodged a complaint with QO, and they have agreed to take the matter on. The saga continues.

 

[Rob Legat - SBPL]

Another option is to bypass the legal minefield and talk to the media. They might be interested to report the matter in the interests of public safety.

 

[Rod]

Ta for update. Disappointing result from the council. If the dog is still a danger, I'd still write to the council advising them the dog is a danger and that they will be joined in action against the dog owner if any injuries occur.