That hardly made a dent in the more than 40,000 registered dogs in the city. The council cannot order a dog be put down (only the courts can), but the council does have the power to dispose of dogs that have been impounded and remained unclaimed for seven days, or that are not suitable for adoption.
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Kathryn Rutherford s dog, Soula, was put down in July 2020 after biting a toddler in the face. When the number of dogs being destroyed are compared to the number of attacks reported to the council, it is clear only a small portion of dogs involved in attacks end up being destroyed.