Court found to be the owner of a killer dog.

Kim Ingemann of St. George's had claimed an Akita-type dog which savaged livestock at Ferry Reach was no longer under his control and running wild with a pack of dogs at the time the attacks occurred.

But Acting Magistrate the Wor. Kim White ruled Ingemann had "told a pack of lies''.

Ingemann, who denied several charges under the Dogs Act, had claimed he called the dog warden himself several times, to collect the animal and put it down after it killed three of his own cows.

But Mr. White said he found Government dog warden Leonard Simons, who had testified Ingemann never made any such requests, to be "a witness of truth''.

He ordered Ingemann to pay a total of $1,250 to Esso oil company to compensate for the slaughter of three of its sheep at Ferry Reach, and $100 to Shell for killing four of its goats.

And he fined him a total of $1,750 for keeping an unlicensed dog on his property from August, 1991 to March, 1992 and allowing it to stray on or about March 10 and 17 and cause damage to sheep and goats.

Ingemann's lawyer Mr. Richard Hector had argued his client never owned the dog. He brought it to Ferry Reach in March, 1991 and kept it on his property for his sons' mother while she was finding a new apartment.

But Mr. White pointed out that under the recently amended Dogs Act, the keeper of a dog is deemed to be the owner regardless of whether it was licensed in his name. And he found "owner'' under the Summary Offences Act to mean anyone who has rights to destruct, maintain and recover.

From his own evidence, Ingemann had threatened to kill the dog, had looked after it, and went to the SPCA to recover it, Mr. White said.

Mr. White further found Ingemann had not taken reasonable precautions to prevent the dog from straying.

From his son's evidence, he himself had chased the dog off his property, Mr.

White pointed out.

Mr. White also noted that when the dog was seized later that year after cows, chickens and cats in the area were maimed, Ingemann went to the SPCA and signed the reclaim form to get it back.

But Mr. Hector said Ingemann's sons' mother had demanded he get the dog back.

And though he signed the form, he licensed it in her name. Mr. White said no evidence was called to support the claim.

He further found that from the evidence, including private vet Dr. Maureen Ware's testimony that sheep wool and blood were found in the Akita's stool, he was satisfied the dog damaged the sheep and goats.

Mr. White said that in making the two compensation orders, he was taking into account the Akita was accompanied by at least one other dog on its rampage.