STATEMENT (Evidence Act 1977, section 92) MAGISTRATES COURT OF QUEENSLAND BEENLEIGH Logan City Council Local Law No. 4 Appeal against destruction order BETWEEN DINO DA FRE Complainant AND LOGAN CITY COUNCIL Respondent EDWARD RYDER of 40 Selkirk Road, Jimboomba, states:- 1. I am accredited by the Australian National Kennel Club ( ANKC ) an All Breeds judge in Australia. 2. The purposes and functions of the ANKC are to:- (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) adopt and promulgate breed standards for pure bred dogs in Australia; train, examine and accredit persons as recognised judges for organised pure bred dog shows in Australia; prescribe procedures for, and give formal recognition to, organised pure bred dog shows in Australia; maintain a national register of pure bred dogs, and provide owners with certificates of registration; generally, as set out in the ANKC mission statement, to:- (i) (ii) promote excellence in breeding, showing, trialling, obedience and other canine related activities and the ownership of temperamentally and physically sound pure bred dogs by responsible individuals across Australia; promote responsible dog ownership and encourage State Member Bodies to put in place programs to that effect; and
Statement of Edward Ryder Page 2 (iii) act as spokesperson on all canine related activities on a National basis on behalf of State Member Bodies and to pledge assistance and support to the respective State Member Bodies. 3. As an all breeds judge, I am accredited to judge at shows conducted under the auspices of the ANKC, and similar bodies in other countries, in respect of each of the 7 groups into which pure bred dogs are divided, that is, Toys, Terriers, Hounds, Working Dogs, Utility Dogs and Non-sporting Dogs. 4. I have held that accreditation for 13 years. In order to obtain that accreditation, I undertook a total of 14 years of training and study under programs and procedures determined by the ANKC. For each breed group, the training and study comprises:- (a) (b) (c) (d) attendance at lectures and passing mini-examinations on each breed within the group; passing 2 in-depth examinations on the breeds in the group; judging a minimum of 200 dogs under the general supervision of accredited judges, and being formally assessed twice by senior ANKC judges during this period; after assessing at least 200 dogs, then doing a final practical test under the assessment of 3 senior ANKC judges. 5. Upon successfully completing all of those steps, a person is recognised by the ANKC as a Championship Judge for the group, and accredited to award Championship Certificates at any dog show recognised by the ANKC, and at shows recognised by a comparable group in another country. 6. A person may be a trainee in up to 3 groups at any one time. A person who completes this training in respect of all 7 groups may then be accredited by the ANKC as an All Breeds judge, and then becomes qualified not only to award Championship Certificates for individual breeds, but also Best in Show awards ANKC or overseas dog shows. 7. I am a member of the Canine Control Council of Queensland ( CCCQ ). The CCCQ is a member body of the ANKC, and exists to provide interpretation and
Statement of Edward Ryder Page 3 implementation in Queensland of the ANKC Rules about matters such as breeding of pedigree dogs and dog show judging. It encourages membership by owners and breeders of pure bred dogs, and aims to provide services for its members in Queensland relating to owning, breeding, showing, buying/selling and importing/exporting of registered pedigree dogs. 8. In 2002, CCCQ was approached by the Department of Local Government to provide the services of experienced dog judges to assist in giving training to local government officers for the implementation of Chapter 17A of the Local Government Act 1993 concerning restricted dogs. I was one of the persons who CCCQ nominated to provide that assistance, and I accepted that appointment. 9. I conducted 5 training courses for local government officers at various places in Queensland during 2002. 10. The courses were single day courses which included a lot of material to inform attendees about the legal content of chapter 17A, and legal processes for its enforcement. This aspect of the courses was conducted by others. 11. The aspect of the course which I conducted, which took up approximately 2 hours of the total time, related to matters concerning the anatomy of dogs and the identification of restricted breeds. Approximately 1 hour of this time was taken up by discussion about the American Pit Bull Terrier. The other restricted breeds (Fila Brasiliero, Dogo Argentino and Japanses Tosa) are extremely rare in Australia, if they exist at all, and the course dealt with these breeds for no more than about 20 minutes -- merely showing some photographs on an overhead projector and pointing out some of the obvious features in those photographs. 12. In dealing with the American Pit Bull Terrier, the focus of my presentation was to identify some of the recognised physical features of the American Pit Bull Terrier, by reference to photographs of particular parts of the body such as the head and shoulders, and to identify, again by photograph, some physically similar breeds which could easily be mistaken for American Pit Bull Terrier, such as Staffordshire Bull Terrier and American Staffordshire Terrier.
Statement of Edward Ryder Page 4 13. Neither my presentation at the Department s training courses, nor the courses as a whole, were capable of providing participants with any specialist expertise in making a positive identification that a dog is an American Pit Bull Terrier, or a cross of that breed, rather than some other physically similar breed such as those just mentioned or a cross of such breeds. 14. To the best of my knowledge, there it is no scientific or professional methodology which can be applied to positively determine the breed or crossbreed components of a particular dog whose actual breeding is unknown, and which has physical features which may be found in a range of breeds of similar appearance, based merely upon physical inspection of the dog and some kind of assessment process based on its physical features. 15. I have been made aware that Logan City Council undertakes a point assessment process for identifying dogs as American Pit Bull Terrier which, as I understand it, involves physical inspection of a dog and the allocation of a score of 0, 1, 2 or 3 to each feature. I attach (Attachment A) a copy of a point assessment which I am advised was carried out in respect of Rusty, the dog in issue in this case. I have not seen or attempted to assess Rusty. 16. The presentation which I gave as part of the Department of Local Government training referred to above included no reference to this point assessment system. I do not know exactly how or on what basis this system has been developed. However, the various descriptive elements in the list of features contain direct similarities to the content of the 1978 United Kennel Club ( UKC ) breed standard for the American Pit Bull Terrier (Attachment B). 17. I do not consider that the point assessment system has any objective validity as a basis for making a positive determination about the breed of a given dog where the actual facts of that breeding are not known. 18. To the extent that the point assessment system has been developed from the UKC breed standard or any similar breed standard, using that standard to attempt to identify the breed of a particular dog whose actual breeding is unknown is not a process recognised by dog judges or dog breeders.
Statement of Edward Ryder Page 5 19. Breed standards are developed or adopted by organisations such as the ANKC, American Kennel Club, English Kennel Club, and Federation Cynologique Internationale (FCI) as a description of the ideal features of a given dog of known breed. They are designed to be used by judges and breeders who already know that a dog is of a particular breed to assess the quality of that animal in terms of the extent to which it meets the ideal represented by the breed standard. 20. The descriptions of physical characteristics in breed standards, and in the points assessment document, are qualitative rather than prescriptive or scientific and, even for dogs whose breed is known, the assessment of a given dog as compared to others may vary from judge to judge or event to event simply because of the qualitative nature of the wording and the subjective nature of the dog judge s task in applying the standard. 21. Because of these factors, dogs which bear no physical similarity to American Pit Bull Terrier at all may still be objectively and reasonably scored as being a pit bull or pit bull type under the this points assessment system. Certainly, dogs which are wholly or substantially Staffordshire Bull Terrier or American Staffordshire Terrier could readily be identified as American Pit Bull Terrier under that system. 22. I have personally applied a similar template to my own dog which is a Papillon, and which bears no physical resemblance at all to an American Pit Bull Terrier. Apart from matters concerning size and weight, it scored enough points to be positively identified as a pit bull or pit bull type. 23. None of the bodies referred to in paragraph 19 prescribe a breed standard for the American Pit Bull Terrier. The best known breed standard for the American Pit bull terrier is the one prescribed by the UKC. That organisation was formed in the United States the late 19th century primarily by the owners of American Pit Bull Terriers in order to provide a breed standard and registry for the American Pit Bull Terrier in circumstances where the American Kennel Club declined to do so. The American Pit Bull Terrier is of common ancestry to the American Staffordshire Terrier, and of very similar physical appearance. To the extent that there is a characteristic which might be used to distinguish the former breed from the latter where actual breeding is unknown, it relates to behaviour and temperament.
Statement of Edward Ryder Page 6 24. The American Pit Bull Terrier was bred for purposes including hunting and fighting and, if not carefully and properly trained from birth, can be quite unpredictable in exhibiting aggressive and dangerous behaviour. Although almost any dog can exhibit behaviour of that kind if improperly trained, it is not an ordinary or expected characteristic of American Staffordshire Terriers or other breeds, such as Staffordshire Bull Terrier, which have some common ancestry with the American Pit Bull Terrier. All the facts stated above are true to my knowledge and belief, and the opinions stated are my own opinions, honestly held. Dated: July 2005 Signed: (Edward Ryder)