By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
THEY were the dogs from Blind Bight that captured the state.
Animal activist and founder of the not-for-profit organisation Oscar’s Law, Debra Tranter, not only publicised their condition, but secretly planted hidden cameras on the property.
Ms Tranter was shocked at the state of the dogs and has followed the outcome to the very end.
“The dogs were chained to poles and some to trees all day, on short leads of around two metres,” Ms Tranter said of the appalling conditions.
“It was very obvious they had no life, these dogs were living a life of deprivation.”
The welfare of the dogs was first reported by The News in April this year, and since then the owner, Troy Scoble has faced court on 53 charges.
Before Mr Scoble attended the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court, there was even a change.org petition set up by Ben Wild of the Animal Justice Party.
The petition asked Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, to “save the Blind Bight dogs before it’s too late”- 15,862 supporters signed the petition.
And Twitter wasn’t far behind, with relentless campaigning online.
Mr Scoble escaped conviction by Magistrate Pauline Spencer because he had no prior convictions and was of “good character”.
But he was ordered to pay a donation to the court fund of $1000 and $1500 in Casey council court costs within three months.
Mr Scoble was also ordered to reduce the number of dogs on his property to four, or obtain a permit for more dogs within 60 days.
Twenty-nine dogs were seized from the Wild Duck Way farm on Tuesday 26 July.
Ms Tranter is calling it a huge win for the dogs – but still has a long way to go to change the legislation that kept them there for so long.
“Legislation didn’t deem this cruel,” she said about the legal length of tethering dogs.
“The law says dogs can be chained legally if they have food and water and we couldn’t save these dogs based on animal welfare grounds,” Ms Tranter said.
The story attracted huge online outrage and Ms Tranter said the fact the law prevented further action was what sparked the attention.
“I think that surprised and angered people – what the community views as cruelty, the law doesn’t,” she said.
“Every time we put a call out to the public they responded and that’s indicative of the way to we treat and see our animals, we are a nation that loves our pets.”
During Ms Tranter’s four-week campaign dozens of people contacted her asking how they could be of help to free the 33 American bulldogs and Staffordshire bull terriers.
The animal lover has since contacted the City of Casey and offered for Oscar’s Law to pay for the dogs to be trained so they can eventually be re-homed.
“Because they’ve been seized ownership can only be determined by a magistrate, so council can’t re-home or vet work the dogs until it goes to court,” Ms Tranter said.
“The dogs are in limbo they have to sit in a pound until the court case.”
