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Dog attack: Woman fights Tauranga council’s menacing dog ruling after Facebook buyer bitten

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Dog attack: Woman fights Tauranga council’s menacing dog ruling after Facebook buyer bitten

The Tauranga City Council, headquartered on Cameron Rd, issued a menacing dog classification after a woman was attacked in Gate Pa. Photo / Alex Cairns

The Tauranga owner of a bulldog-cross named Spud that attacked a visitor has lost her bid to quash a menacing dog classification.

Dayna Osborne, of Gate Pa, appealed the classification notice issued by the Tauranga City Council on May 23.

It followed an investigation into Spud, a 6-year-old American bulldog-cross, attacking a woman visiting Osborne’s rented property on March 27.

The council’s Regulatory Hearings Panel heard evidence on Monday from Osborne and Brent Lincoln, the council’s team leader of animal services.

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The classification meant Osborne must ensure Spud was always muzzled and controlled on a leash when in public.

All dogs classified as menacing must be also neutered. Spud was neutered and microchipped at the time of the attack, the panel was told.

Lincoln told the panel of chairwoman Mary Dillon and members Puhirake Ihaka, Terry Molloy and Alan Tate, that Osborne accepted her dog attacked a visitor who was collecting an item she had bought on Facebook.

The victim did not attend the hearing but made a written complaint to the council.

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In her statement, the victim said as she walked up to the house, a dog came “shooting out of the house” through an open door to the deck, barking.

She said the dog jumped off the deck and attacked her, biting her hand and causing puncture wounds, bruising and swelling.

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The dog was secured by a man and taken inside the house.

She said she had to have time off work due to her injuries.

Lincoln told the panel Osborne and the council agreed that her dog was not secured inside the house before it ran outside when the visitor arrived and bit her hand.

There was a disagreement about whether the victim had tried to pat Spud. Lincoln, however, said that was not relevant in terms of the Dog Control Act, he said, as under the legislation a dog that bit a person would have to be leashed in public.

Despite Osborne knowing her dog was fearful and anxious around strangers, she had not secured Spud before the visitor arrived, he said.

Brent Lincoln, team leader of Tauranga City Council's animal services. Photo / NZME
Brent Lincoln, team leader of Tauranga City Council’s animal services. Photo / NZME

Lincoln said generally speaking, the nature of Spud’s behaviour around people and dogs posed “more of a risk” than overtly aggressive dogs – particularly after Spud had already bitten someone.

He said that was why the council decided a menacing dog classification was appropriate.

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Panelist Ihaka said in his experience if a dog was fearful or anxious around strangers, that could trigger this type of behaviour.

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Lincoln agreed: “In this case, if the dog had been kept inside of the house this incident would not have happened.”

Osborne urged the panel to lift the classification, citing no prior history of aggression by her dog and the efforts she had made to prevent this from happening.

Osborne said she was upstairs when the attack happened and her partner was waiting for the buyer to arrive, but she came later than arranged.

Spud escaped from the house after her partner left a door slightly open, and she said she felt let down by him, Osborne said.

“Spud has had a lot of trauma in his past life with people trying to pet him and being attacked by other dogs,” she said.

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Osborne said Spud had undergone two surgeries because of previous attacks and he did not like other dogs and strangers coming on to their property.

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“We have spent a lot of time trying to retrain him to be less anxious and fearful.”

Osborne said they moved to Tauranga in February last year but, unfortunately, school children and neighbours were coming into their backyard to engage with Spud, adding to his fear and anxiety.

Because of his mental health issues, they moved to another rental property, which was unfenced so Spud spent most of the time inside the house.

“Our problem is other dogs trying to get to him and people coming up to him and trying to touch him and he usually runs away.

“I have signs up saying ‘Don’t pat the dog’ and Spud also wears a customised collar warning people not to do so.

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“I feel we are doing everything we can to manage his behaviour and the situation to prevent anything like this from happening again.”

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Osborne told the panel she accepted responsibility for what happened and had reimbursed the injured woman’s medical costs.

“This is the first time my dog has done something like this and we are working with our landlord to get changes made to the property to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

On Friday, Lincoln confirmed he had been informed that the panel upheld the menacing dog classification ruling and the written decision would be available for release shortly.

Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.

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Facebook Faces Yet Another Outage: Platform Encounters Technical Issues Again

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Facebook Problem Again

Uppdated: It seems that today’s issues with Facebook haven’t affected as many users as the last time. A smaller group of people appears to be impacted this time around, which is a relief compared to the larger incident before. Nevertheless, it’s still frustrating for those affected, and hopefully, the issues will be resolved soon by the Facebook team.

Facebook had another problem today (March 20, 2024). According to Downdetector, a website that shows when other websites are not working, many people had trouble using Facebook.

This isn’t the first time Facebook has had issues. Just a little while ago, there was another problem that stopped people from using the site. Today, when people tried to use Facebook, it didn’t work like it should. People couldn’t see their friends’ posts, and sometimes the website wouldn’t even load.

Downdetector, which watches out for problems on websites, showed that lots of people were having trouble with Facebook. People from all over the world said they couldn’t use the site, and they were not happy about it.

When websites like Facebook have problems, it affects a lot of people. It’s not just about not being able to see posts or chat with friends. It can also impact businesses that use Facebook to reach customers.

Since Facebook owns Messenger and Instagram, the problems with Facebook also meant that people had trouble using these apps. It made the situation even more frustrating for many users, who rely on these apps to stay connected with others.

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During this recent problem, one thing is obvious: the internet is always changing, and even big websites like Facebook can have problems. While people wait for Facebook to fix the issue, it shows us how easily things online can go wrong. It’s a good reminder that we should have backup plans for staying connected online, just in case something like this happens again.

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Christian family goes in hiding after being cleared of blasphemy

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Christian family goes in hiding after being cleared of blasphemy

LAHORE, Pakistan — A court in Pakistan granted bail to a Christian falsely charged with blasphemy, but he and his family have separated and gone into hiding amid threats to their lives, sources said.

Haroon Shahzad (right) with attorney Aneeqa Maria. | The Voice Society/Morning Star News

Haroon Shahzad, 45, was released from Sargodha District Jail on Nov. 15, said his attorney, Aneeqa Maria. Shahzad was charged with blasphemy on June 30 after posting Bible verses on Facebook that infuriated Muslims, causing dozens of Christian families in Chak 49 Shumaali, near Sargodha in Punjab Province, to flee their homes.

Lahore High Court Judge Ali Baqir Najfi granted bail on Nov. 6, but the decision and his release on Nov. 15 were not made public until now due to security fears for his life, Maria said.

Shahzad told Morning Star News by telephone from an undisclosed location that the false accusation has changed his family’s lives forever.

“My family has been on the run from the time I was implicated in this false charge and arrested by the police under mob pressure,” Shahzad told Morning Star News. “My eldest daughter had just started her second year in college, but it’s been more than four months now that she hasn’t been able to return to her institution. My other children are also unable to resume their education as my family is compelled to change their location after 15-20 days as a security precaution.”

Though he was not tortured during incarceration, he said, the pain of being away from his family and thinking about their well-being and safety gave him countless sleepless nights.

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“All of this is due to the fact that the complainant, Imran Ladhar, has widely shared my photo on social media and declared me liable for death for alleged blasphemy,” he said in a choked voice. “As soon as Ladhar heard about my bail, he and his accomplices started gathering people in the village and incited them against me and my family. He’s trying his best to ensure that we are never able to go back to the village.”

Shahzad has met with his family only once since his release on bail, and they are unable to return to their village in the foreseeable future, he said.

“We are not together,” he told Morning Star News. “They are living at a relative’s house while I’m taking refuge elsewhere. I don’t know when this agonizing situation will come to an end.”

The Christian said the complainant, said to be a member of Islamist extremist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan and also allegedly connected with banned terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, filed the charge because of a grudge. Shahzad said he and his family had obtained valuable government land and allotted it for construction of a church building, and Ladhar and others had filed multiple cases against the allotment and lost all of them after a four-year legal battle.

“Another probable reason for Ladhar’s jealousy could be that we were financially better off than most Christian families of the village,” he said. “I was running a successful paint business in Sargodha city, but that too has shut down due to this case.”

Regarding the social media post, Shahzad said he had no intention of hurting Muslim sentiments by sharing the biblical verse on his Facebook page.

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“I posted the verse a week before Eid Al Adha [Feast of the Sacrifice] but I had no idea that it would be used to target me and my family,” he said. “In fact, when I came to know that Ladhar was provoking the villagers against me, I deleted the post and decided to meet the village elders to explain my position.”

The village elders were already influenced by Ladhar and refused to listen to him, Shahzad said.

“I was left with no option but to flee the village when I heard that Ladhar was amassing a mob to attack me,” he said.

Shahzad pleaded with government authorities for justice, saying he should not be punished for sharing a verse from the Bible that in no way constituted blasphemy.

Similar to other cases

Shahzad’s attorney, Maria, told Morning Star News that events in Shahzad’s case were similar to other blasphemy cases filed against Christians.

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“Defective investigation, mala fide on the part of the police and complainant, violent protests against the accused persons and threats to them and their families, forcing their displacement from their ancestral areas, have become hallmarks of all blasphemy allegations in Pakistan,” said Maria, head of The Voice Society, a Christian paralegal organization.

She said that the case filed against Shahzad was gross violation of Section 196 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which states that police cannot register a case under the Section 295-A blasphemy statute against a private citizen without the approval of the provincial government or federal agencies.

Maria added that Shahzad and his family have continued to suffer even though there was no evidence of blasphemy.

“The social stigma attached with a blasphemy accusation will likely have a long-lasting impact on their lives, whereas his accuser, Imran Ladhar, would not have to face any consequence of his false accusation,” she said.

The judge who granted bail noted that Shahzad was charged with blasphemy under Section 295-A, which is a non-cognizable offense, and Section 298, which is bailable. The judge also noted that police had not submitted the forensic report of Shahzad’s cell phone and said evidence was required to prove that the social media was blasphemous, according to Maria.

Bail was set at 100,000 Pakistani rupees (US $350) and two personal sureties, and the judge ordered police to further investigate, she said.

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Shahzad, a paint contractor, on June 29 posted on his Facebook page 1 Cor. 10:18-21 regarding food sacrificed to idols, as Muslims were beginning the four-day festival of Eid al-Adha, which involves slaughtering an animal and sharing the meat.

A Muslim villager took a screenshot of the post, sent it to local social media groups and accused Shahzad of likening Muslims to pagans and disrespecting the Abrahamic tradition of animal sacrifice.

Though Shahzad made no comment in the post, inflammatory or otherwise, the situation became tense after Friday prayers when announcements were made from mosque loudspeakers telling people to gather for a protest, family sources previously told Morning Star News.

Fearing violence as mobs grew in the village, most Christian families fled their homes, leaving everything behind.

In a bid to restore order, the police registered a case against Shahzad under Sections 295-A and 298. Section 295-A relates to “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs” and is punishable with imprisonment of up to 10 years and fine, or both. Section 298 prescribes up to one year in prison and a fine, or both, for hurting religious sentiments.

Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2023 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, up from eighth the previous year.

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Morning Star News is the only independent news service focusing exclusively on the persecution of Christians. The nonprofit’s mission is to provide complete, reliable, even-handed news in order to empower those in the free world to help persecuted Christians, and to encourage persecuted Christians by informing them that they are not alone in their suffering.

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Individual + Team Stats: Hornets vs. Timberwolves

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CHARLOTTE HORNETS MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES You can follow us for future coverage by liking us on Facebook & following us on X: Facebook – All Hornets X – …

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