Jackie Chan the ram’s days of being out on Maddingley streets appear to be numbered.
The 10-year-old merino is at the centre of a long-running dispute between the ram’s owner, Godwin Aquilina, his neighbours and Moorabool council.
In 2013, Moorabool council ordered Mr Aquilina to construct a secure pen to contain Jackie Chan after several reports of the ram charging residents.
Mr Aquilina was granted a permit to keep the house-raised family pet at his Love Close home on the condition it was desexed and that the permit would be immediately revoked if the ram escaped again.
Neighbours Debra and Bruce Bullock, with two other residents, fronted Moorabool council at question time last week in a bid to get the animal removed.
“Jackie Chan is constantly out on the streets,” Mrs Bullock said. “Council officers attended the property [on April 5] and the ram was just put back into the property.
“The other day he was tied to the give way sign. I want to know why the council allows this to carry on.”
The council moved to discuss the request in a closed session.
Moorabool mayor Alan Comrie on Thursday said that the April 5 incident was the last straw.
“We’ve got to go in and remove the ram,” he said. “In the past, when we’ve tried to deal with the owner of the ram – he’s taken legal action, we’ve had to go to court and it’s been a difficult process.
“[But] the owner is in breach of the conditions of the permit to keep it inside a pen. We’ll be talking to the police about how to go about removing the animal.”
When approached by Star Weekly Mr Aquilina said he was with Jackie Chan, who was tethered to the front gate and there was no breach of the permit, on April 5.
He said intervention orders prevent him and the Bullocks from talking to each other.
Mr Aquilina said he was being bullied by neighbours and the council.
“This situation has been going on for many years.
“All these accusations, I find quite hurtful and quite offensive. My children would be shattered if they took Jackie Chan away.
“The first words out of my daughter’s mouth last week were about Jackie Chan … she brags about him and she tells people about him.
“I’ve got a double-rail, double-pale, double-posted fence to keep Jackie Chan inside for the rest of his life.
“The pen that I built had to be within … 1.2-metres high and 30 square metres in area. It’s unethical and not a way for him to live. That’s why I take him out for walks.
“I have to be cruel to my animal in order to abide by their rules. I’m between a rock and a hard place.”
