THE family of a pet dog that was put down by a Leeton Shire Council ranger last week has expressed its disappointment at how the incident was handled.
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A 14-month-old American Staffordshire dog was euthanised with the use of a firearm on Friday afternoon after it reportedly attacked a woman.
However, the lady was not injured, with the family angered it had not been notified before the dog was put down.
The owner of the dog had taken it to a friend's house where it was inside and managed to get outside through a gauzed window.
"A lady has called the ranger after he got out and he was barking at her from the mailbox," a family member said.
"The ranger has collected the dog ... he's done the microchip scan, but read the number wrong and it has come up as not being microchipped.
"He has then said the dog started acting viciously and decided it was a 'dangerous' dog and was taken to the tip and shot."
The family member said there were a number of issues to be concerned about.
"Firstly we were not contacted ... we should have been contacted and given a chance to defend (the dog)," she said.
"Dogs can't speak up for themselves, so I think we deserved the right to be contacted before anything else happened.
"The other thing is the way the dog was put down ... I see it as very inhumane.
"I think people need to be aware about this.
"We've had amazing support from the community ... we just want the public to be aware.
"When your dog is (impounded) you should be notified, given the chance to defend it and be told how it was euthanised."
