Australian court to hear death row dog case

Australia's apex court has agreed to hear a case of a dog on death row after a woman appealed a council order to put down Izzy, her Staffordshire terrier, media reported.

The Knox City council in Melbourne ordered that Izzy be put down after the dog bit a stranger on the finger in 2012, and was also involved in two other attacks in June 2013, the Melbourne Age reported Friday.

Tania Isbester, the dog's owner and a mother of five, pleaded guilty to charges over the original incident in a local court.

The dog was seized by the council in June 2013 and kept in a cage at an animal shelter. It was subsequently decided that Izzy should be killed.

Isbester appealed the execution in the state of Victoria's court of appeal but lost last year. She subsequently took the case to the country's highest court.

Justices Kenneth Hayne and Geoffrey Nettle of the Australian High Court have granted her leave to appeal. The case is likely to be heard in April. It is believed to be the first case of a dog execution before the highest court.