Woman fined £150 for letting pet dog off his lead on her own driveway
Her neighbour complained to the local council
One elderly woman has been landed with a pretty hefty fine for doing something I'm sure most dog owners do on an everyday basis.
Judy Murphy, from Melbourne, Australia, was handed a £150 fine after she let her dog off his lead on her own driveway.
The 79-year-old woman was left to cough up the 'absurd' fee after one of her neighbours complained to the local council about the four-legged friend.
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The Bayside City Council was alerted to the situation when it was sent a snap of Judy walking her five-year-old Maltese Shih Tzu, Clarrie, on the front driveway of her home.
Opening up about the ordeal, the woman told 7NEWS: "I was issued a fine of $288 (around £150) because he was off lead."
Judy added that little Clarrie 'wasn't going anywhere' and 'was just looking for his mates'.
"He’s my best little mate and wouldn’t hurt a fly," the Aussie added.
Bayside City Council has since defended the fine in an official statement on the matter.
It read: "Council issued an infringement notice to a dog owner after receiving multiple complaints about a dog not being securely confined to the owner’s premises.
"Allowing a dog to roam in an unfenced front yard or unsecured open area is an offence against the Domestic Animals Act."
The statement added: "The dog owner had been spoken to multiple times and was aware her dog needed to be secured to the property to prevent injury, nuisance or attacks."
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The neighbour who made the official complaint, who remains anonymous, claimed he had previously spoken to Judy a number of times about Clarrie before taking the matter up with the local council.
In other news, one 77-year-old woman was left in tears after being fined £1,590 for forgetting about a sandwich in her bag during a flight.
June Armstrong, an Aussie grandma, was flying from Christchurch to Brisbane earlier this year (2 May) when she was brought to tears after being landed with the small fortune to cough up over the butty blunder.
She had planned on eating the sandwich, which she had bought at the airport, on the plane but fell asleep and when she reached her destination, she filled out a declaration form where she stated she had prescription medication.
June went through border control and had both her suitcase and backpack checked over by local authorities where they found her uneaten sandwich.
The woman recalled she said at the time: "Oh, I forgot about that, I’m sorry. Could you throw it away for me?"
Unfortunately, however, the border control official did not oblige and 'just kept going through [her] bag' and finally returned to deliver the news absolutely no ones wants to hear at an airport.
"Twelve points, 3,300," the official said to which June asked him what it meant and he replied: "Twelve points, NZD $3,300 (approximately £1,590)."
Clearly stunned by the fine, June hoped the man was just having her on before she finally realised he was far from joking.
Naturally, the grandma broke down into tears.
"I was just sobbing and said '$3,300 for a little sandwich?'" she recalled.
Brb I'm just crying myself over here.
June attempted to appeal the fine but eventually conceded and was sadly made to pay it in full.
Rhiannon Ingle