Shellharbour Council has put an order out for my Frankie girl to be deemed as a dangerous dog because of an reported incident that happened about a month ago.If she is deemed dangerous, I most likely will not be able to keep her in a strata complex due to the very strict rules and the council ranger has stated that I cannot rehome her once labelled as dangerous, so Im facing the very harsh reality of having to euthanise her. This is obviously heartbreaking for everyone that she has come into contact with as she brings so much joy and love to everyone with her cuddly loving nature.

I firmly don't believe she deserves that label, as the incident information was very one-sided, very dramatic, is constantly changing and lacks evidence of an unprovoked attack from Frankie, with her breed being the primary factor. Anyone who knows Frankie knows she is the sweetest, who loves to cuddle and play. She never barks or nips even in play situations but is highly energetic/excitable girl who just wants affection from people and has shown no signs of aggression since I rescued her from Wollongong council 2 months ago. Wollongong council would also not let a dangerous dog be adopted and they have sent a letter of recommendation on the nature she displayed while with them.

Frankie is a big girl and can get overly excitable, not realising her size or strength, and she does need to be trained on saying hello without running/jumping on people. I've started obedience training with Frankie to address this issue with a professional who has also said she shows zero signs of aggression.

Regarding the reported incident, we are deeply apologetic for any potential harm or distress that Frankie may have caused. When off leash (completely our fault and we take accountability for that and will happily pay the fines) she had run over to a horse and people in what I imagine would be a very fast, energetic and excitable way and potentially spooked the person. By time my friend got there these people were seen whipping her multiple times with a horse whip as she was running around (Frankie wasn't being aggressive) this could also be an offence of animal abuse on their behalf. The complainant has said Frankie attacked them and their horse. One of them has then been bucked off the horse. They have also claimed Frankie has jumped so high and fast that she managed to bite the horse so hard that it left multiple puncture wounds on its neck, there were no signs of blood on Frankie, the horse was fully grown in size and when we got there the horse was not frightened by her presence. It also says my friend and myself just ignored them and walked off but we both communicated with them but they were yelling and swearing so much I felt unsafe and left especially since my friend said she had tried to throw a punch at him before I arrived so it was very hard to communicate with them.

The photo and video evidence does not show Frankie attacking, it just shows her running around. The witnesses she has were all in the same group, so I don't feel they will be impartial. In fact, one of the group at the time told my friend that they didn't see anything happen, so this also leads us to question their account. I don't believe she meets any of the points stated to be declared dangerous as if something did happen she was clearly provoked by being whipped and yelled at.

The situation could of been alot worse and like mentioned I've started measures already to ensure this will never happen again. Frankie is my world, and I can't bear to think that after being rescued from the council that I may not be able to keep her with me based on one person's account of an incident that involved an apparent animal attack where she did not kill anything and no attack on a human.

If youve seen or know Frankie, please sign this petition to show the council that she is not a dangerous/aggressive dog in the hopes they will take an alternative route that allows me to keep her. If anyone can vouch for her beautiful nature it is you guys. You can also write comments if you want to. Thank you xx