The Tribunal set aside the council's destruction order for a regulated dangerous dog and ordered the dog returned to its owners, despite finding on the merits that the dog had seriously attacked another animal within the meaning of s 127AA of the Animal Management (Cats and Dogs) Act 2008 (Qld). The decision turned on the council's failure to serve the destruction order on both registered owners as required by s 127AA(4): the Tribunal held that unlike s 90(1) (proposed declaration notices), which requires service on 'any owner', s 127AA(4) requires service on 'the registered owner', which by operation of s 32C of the Acts Interpretation Act 1954 (Qld) includes the plural — meaning all registered owners must be served. The Tribunal declined to confirm the decision notwithstanding the service defect, holding that doing so would ignore a mandatory legislative requirement and deprive a registered owner of statutory rights. The dog remains a declared dangerous dog subject to all schedule 1 conditions.
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