364 Days: And Still Brindi Remains Impounded in Halifax

By isak, July 22, 2009

Here’s the latest news from Halifax, Nova Scotia regarding the ongoing injustice that seems to remain heaped upon an outspoken dog owner, Francesca Rogier, and her impounded dog, Brindi. If you have followed the story, or tried to follow it’s illogical course, you know Brindi was impounded on July 24, 2008 — almost a year ago to the day — because of a fourth incident reported to Animal Control. A few days after the last incident, an Animal Control Officer appeared at Ms. Rogier’s home with an order of euthanasia, demanding she turn over Brindi. She complied. But she did not feel the incidences — one report that Brindi was running loose and three relatively minor scuffles with dogs on the edge of her rural property — warranted a death sentence for Brindi. Having no other recourse for appeal, Ms. Rogier filed a lawsuit against the city of Halifax… and in January, the order of seizure and euthanasia were quashed. She was free!

However, the city held on to Brindi… and in a very last minute action, filed new charges: 3 by-law violations — offenses historically resulting in a fine — in an apparent move to parlay a guilty verdict into a new kill order. Funny how the previous incidences did not warrant seizure at the time they occurred, but now, in an apparent effort to “win,” all reasonable logic and humanity gets tossed out the window. Simply, it defies logic.

The owner has fenced in an area for Brindi to run loose in her yard. She accepts that Brindi must be muzzled when outside this area. Though Brindi has already been through training, she plans more for her. She has bent over backwards to show the lengths she will go so Brindi can come home and the public will be “safe.”

We aren’t talking about a ferocious dog. We are talking about a dog who has been around children, the elderly, crowds, and other cats and dogs without incident. In December, Brindi was assessed by a Dog Behavior Expert who found in light of several factors — completion of obedience school, ability to socialize and play with dogs she is familiar with, cohabitation with a cat — that Brindi is not an aggressive dog.

Ms. Rogier was back in court last week. Here’s the [slider title=”Chronicle Herald article “]

Brindi’s owner goes to trial in October on animal control charges

The Chronicle Herald | Wed. Jul 22 – 4:46 AM
The owner of Brindi the dog will go to trial in October on three counts of violating Halifax Regional Municipality’s animal control bylaw.

Francesca Rogier of East Chezzetcook is charged with being the owner of a dog that was running at large, owning a dog that attacked another animal and failing to comply with a muzzling order.

She pleaded not guilty to the charges in February and appeared in Dartmouth provincial court again last week, when her trial was set for Oct. 13.

The charges stem from an event in East Chezzetcook in July 2008, when animal control officers, acting on a complaint from another pet owner, seized Brindi and ordered her euthanized.

The dog was under a muzzle order at the time. Ms. Rogier has said Brindi got away while she was holding the muzzle.

Brindi, a six-year-old mixed breed, has been kept at the SPCA shelter in Dartmouth since she was seized.

A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge ruled Jan. 16 that the bylaw that authorized the killing of Brindi exceeded the power of the municipality.

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You can help. There are several ways:

• If you have the means, please make a monetary donation to Brindi’s legal defense fund.
• Send a free email postcard to your friends and family asking them to support Brindi.
• Donate an item to Brindi’s auction site.
• Bid on an item on Brindi’s auction site.
• Sign the petition
• Contact —
  • Director of Legal Services Mary Ellen Donovan at
    HRM Legal Services
    POB 1749
    Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3J 3A5
    Fax: 902-490-4232
  • Also Mayor Peter Kelly
  • And Premier Darrell Dexter at ddexter@ns.sympatico.ca or premier@gov.ns.ca
  • Ask them to drop charges against Francesca Rogier
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