Jackie Chan the roaming ram might have just 14 days left to live.
Moorabool council decided this week that the 10-year-old house-raised marino will be impounded and could be put down in coming weeks if its owner, Godwin Aquilina, doesn’t remove it from his Maddingley property.
But Jackie Chan may yet receive a stay of execution if Mr Aquilina’s plan to certify him as an assistance animal prevails.
“I have an acquired brain injury and he’s my companion,” Mr Aquilina said.
“He helps me with my everyday functions and I’m going to do what I can to keep him.”
“They [the council] didn’t even want to hear what I had to say.
“He’s my ram and they weren’t going to let me speak which I think is so unfair.
10-year saga
Jackie Chan has been the subject of controversy between Love Close residents, his owner and council for the past three years after a number of reports of the ram charging residents since 2013.
Councillors voted not to renew a permit to keep Jackie Chan at the residential property because Mr Aquilina refused council officers access on April 21 to complete a site inspection which would have determined whether the ram could stay.
Simmering tensions boiled over when three frustrated neighbours fronted last Wednesday’s council meeting in Ballan in a final bid to get the ram removed.
Debra and Bruce Bullock both told councillors they lived in fear that Jackie Chan would attack if he escaped again.
“No one should have to live like this,” Mrs Bullock said.
Another neighbour said “enough is enough”.
“It’s a dangerous animal,” he said.
The public gallery erupted when the neighbour said the ram “should be taken out the back and slaughtered.”
The Bullocks and Mr Aquilina, whose mutual intervention orders mean they can’t speak to one another, taunted each other from opposite ends of the gallery while councillors called for order.
Cr Paul Tatchell threatened a walkout if the issue was not put to a vote immediately.
“You can all vote on this, I’m not going to sit here and listen to this any longer,” he said as he stormed out of the chambers.
Cr Tatchell refused to return for the vote but the move to refuse the permit was carried by councillors Tom Sullivan, Tonia Dudzik, David Edwards, Pat Toohey and mayor Allan Comrie.
Cr John Spain declared a conflict of interest as he lives nearby.
