ROTTERDAM – Judge I Buchner
had to explain it several times:
owning a pit bull is illegal
unless you can prove the dog
is a purebred Staffordshire
bull terrier.
None of the fourteen dog owners
summoned to appear at a special
court session in Rotterdam on
Monday were able to do that.
The judge ruled that all 29
of their dogs be euthanised.
The owners faced fines between
EUR 250 and 750, even those
who had acquired the dogs as
pets with good intentions.
‘However sweet your dog may
be, it is illegal, and you will
not get the animal back,’ Buchner
replied to owners who requested
their dogs be returned.
Most dog owners summoned to
Monday’s session did not bother
coming to court.
Those who did had not been
aware of the complicated requirements
for proving a dog’s breed –
a pedigree and a microchip.
A law made it illegal in 1993
to breed pit bulls and similar
dogs. People who had such dogs
before then must keep their
dogs leashed and muzzled in
public.
