'XL Bully' released from police custody after Portsmouth incident as Southampton man banned from owning dogs
An XL bully that has been kept in police custody will be allowed to return home, a court has ruled.
On September 21, 2024, a dog called Chaos was seized by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary after an incident in Portsmouth. Samuel Smith, 35 from Northampton Road, Southampton, was arrested and later charged with having custody of a fighting dog.
Chaos was also taken into police custody, being looked after in kennels by a dog handler.
At Portsmouth Magistrates Court earlier today (Tuesday, April 7), Smith appeared for sentencing, having pleaded guilty in June last year. There, District Judge David Robinson had to determine whether Chaos would be destroyed, or allowed to return home.
A general consensus was reached among police and counsel that Smith was not Chaos’ actual owner; instead, he belonged to a Portsmouth woman called Zoe Rose - who was deemed to be “fit and proper” to care for him.
The court heard how Chaos was seized after an incident between Smith and another man, who had blood on him when the police arrived. An officer reported that Smith told him the other man “started on him” and so headbutted him, before the man spat blood in his face. Smith has not been charged in connection with that incident, but had Chaos with him at the time.
Police later confirmed that Chaos had the characteristics of an XL Bully - which is not a specific breed of dog.
Sentencing, Judge Robinson said: “You got into a fight for which no charges have been brought. On that occasion, you had taken out Miss Rose’s XL bully, that’s a prohibited dog. It should not have been in your company in those circumstances.
“The dog was seized and you lied to the police about the ownership of that dog. In this case, we are satisfied that the true owner is Miss Zoe Rose, and she makes an application that the dog not be destroyed.
“There’s nothing in terms of temprament or behaviour that would warrant risk - the owner is a fit and proper person, who has suitable premises to accomodate the dog, and I’m persuaded that the dog does not constitute a danger to public safety.”
Instead, Miss Rose was advised to get Chaos a certificate of exemption, which includes that the dog must be neutered, as well as muzzled and on a lead at all times in public.
Smith, meanwhile, was disqualified from owning a dog for five years, and ordered to pay a fine of £166, plus a £66 surcharge and £85 court costs. Upon hearing of the disqualification, Smith swung back in his chair in the dock, and said: “Five years [is] a f***ing joke.”
Once sentencing concluded, he stormed out of the courtroom before Judge Robinson had a chance to dismiss him.