A Warwick dog owner is fighting the legal system to save three Pittbulls which are to be destroyed before the end of the year.

All three dogs were removed from his property on December 5 after allegedly killing a cat on his property and getting into a fight which left one of the three dogs seriously injured

Vic Ball claims Environmental Protection removed the dogs without his knowledge and proceeded to take the matter to court on December 6 and 7 where they got a judge to sign an order for the dogs, Judah, Ginger and Onyx to be destroyed.

But he says he was never given the opportunity to represent himself or the dogs in court.

?I believe that if the judge knew the whole story then the outcome may have been different, but I was never given a chance to speak on their behalf.?

Mr. Ball complained that the dog wardens presented the Magistrate with six separate incidents that they said were proof that his dogs were a menace to society.

?If they are such a menace then why would you need to have a trial with only one party giving evidence? Of course the evidence will be severely lopsided and if there is no other evidence to be given, the judge will rule in your favour,? he said.

He said it would be a different matter altogether if the owner of the dog could not be found or the animal was a stray, but in his case dog wardens came to his house when he was not home and removed the dogs.

Mr. Ball explained that one of his dogs breached the fencing to his yard and caught and killed a cat on his property and then got into a fight with his other dog which was tied to a chain.

When asked about the other six cases against his dogs, Mr. Ball said these included an incident in which one of his dogs was suspected of killing another dog, also on his property, but said it never happened.

?That judge made his decision this time based on ? in my opinion ? a complete and utter falsification of the truth!? he said.

Mr. Ball said he imported all three dogs from the US before the new laws banning certain breeds had been enforced and insisted they were not dangerous.

Pittbulls are on the list of 23 banned breeds on the Island including the American Bulldog and Rottweiler.

In a statement from the Department of Environmental Protection this week it was stated that each of Mr. Ball?s three dogs had been the subject of formal complaints to the Department involving aggressive behaviour towards other animals.

In some of these incidents animals were injured and in others, animals were killed.

The most recent incident which lead to the court action taken against Mr. Ball left one animal dead and another with serious injuries.

The Department stated that the orders of the court authorising the Director to destroy Mr. Balls? dogs were obtained in accordance with the Dogs Act 1978 and have not been appealed by Mr. Ball.

Before deciding to carry out those orders, the Director invited Mr. Ball to meet with him and other members of staff of the Department to apprise him of why the Department had taken the action it had.

The Director was also to discuss the Departments? concerns regarding the danger that Mr. Balls? dogs pose to the community and to examine Mr. Ball?s proposals for proper containment and control of these dogs in the future.

The Department concluded by saying discussions were underway between them and Mr. Ball and confirmed that the dogs were still alive.

On December 9, Mr. Ball filed a writ against the Minister of the Environment in connection with the case