Finding into death of Ayen Chol
Deceased
Ayen Chol
Demographics
4y, female
Date of death
2011-08-17
Finding date
2012-09-28
Cause of death
Head and neck injuries sustained in a dog attack
AI-generated summary
Ayen Chol, a 4-year-old girl, died from head and neck injuries sustained in an attack by an American Pit Bull Terrier on 17 August 2011 at her home in St Albans, Victoria. The dog escaped from its owners' premises via an open garage door and attacked multiple family members before fatally mauling the child. The coroner found the death preventable and identified multiple contributing factors: the owners' deliberate concealment of the restricted breed dog from authorities (continuing to register a deceased German Shepherd instead), failure to comply with mandatory containment requirements, failure to de-sex and micro-chip the dog, and the dog breeder's unauthorised breeding without neutering the breeding pair. The coroner criticised the regulatory system's failure to require veterinarians to report unregistered, undesexed restricted breed dogs. Recommendations included legislative prohibition of breeding restricted breed dogs with criminal sanctions, mandatory reporting by veterinarians, and shifting the burden of proof to owners to establish a dog is not a restricted breed.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Contributing factors
- Owners' deliberate concealment of restricted breed dog from authorities
- Failure to comply with containment requirements for restricted breed dogs
- Dog not de-sexed or micro-chipped as required by law
- No proper prescribed enclosure constructed
- Open garage roller door allowing dog escape
- Unauthorised breeding of restricted breed dog
- Absence of mandatory reporting requirement for veterinarians regarding unregistered restricted breed dogs
Coroner's recommendations
- Victorian Parliament should legislate to expressly prohibit the breeding of restricted breed dogs with criminal sanctions for such breeding
- Amend the Domestic Animals Act 1994 (Vic) to require Veterinary Surgeons to mandatorily report to regulatory authorities if called to treat any dog which is a restricted breed dog or may be a restricted breed dog that is not registered, neutered and micro-chipped
- Amend the Domestic Animals Act 1994 (Vic) to place the onus on owners to establish that a dog suspected by regulatory authorities to be a restricted breed dog is not in fact a restricted breed dog
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