The deliberation was reached by an Invercargill City Council (ICC) board on Wednesday afternoon, rendering an appeal by the defendant last Tuesday unsuccessful.
Dog owner Danuta Boniface appealed the decision, stating her dogs Argos, a Rottweiler-cross, and Zara, a German Shepherd-cross, were not the "vicious, savage beasts" they had been made out to be.
In the past nine years, Mrs Boniface has received a total of 112 complaints over the behaviour of her dogs.
The complaints included 68 for barking, 17 for wandering and three for attacks.
Argos and Zara were the subject of 71 of the complaints and classified as menacing by deed in 2020.
During the appeal, Mrs Boniface stated the council investigation and subsequent report were incomplete, and alleged a nefarious neighbour had been illegally entering her property to release the dogs.
Three incidents of Argos wandering in December last year and January and May this year, and Mrs Boniface’s failure to comply with the classification of menacing in a continuous 24-month period, led to her being served with the disqualification from ownership notice.
The final deliberation stated the disqualification was upheld in its entirety and the council did not accept the allegations made by Mrs Boniface as they largely related to the issue of menacing classification, which was outside the scope of the appeal.
"The appellant’s oral evidence was presented as a monologue where she covered multiple topics and reasons," it said.
"We are satisfied that there are no issues with the council staff report or investigation that would warrant the appeal being allowed."
The deliberation acknowledged Mrs Boniface’s allegations that a neighbour had entered her property to release the dogs, but noted that no evidence was presented to substantiate this.
Speaking to the Otago Daily Times following the deliberation, she maintained her belief that she was the victim of a campaign of harassment by a neighbour, and was the subject of "victim bashing" from the ICC.
"The ICC is basically just tacitly aiding and abetting a villain ... who has done a criminal act.
"I am desperately, desperately fighting for my dogs."
She would be fighting the deliberation in the legal courts, and was worried Argos and Zara might be killed while in the ICC dog pound.
