A DOG that was on death row has been put down despite desperate last ditch attempts by her owner to save her.

Now furious Michaela Ryves has threatened legal action against Southampton City Council after Staffordshire bull terrier Keizer was destroyed.

She claims she had tried to collect the dog, which was picked up as a stray by the dog warden, within the seven-day time limit, but was told that she could not because of an upcoming court case to decide the dog’s fate.

However council officials insist that she failed to collect her pet in time.

The three-year-old canine’s fate was set to be decided by Southampton magistrates, who heard how Keizer had attacked two other dogs after escaping from her home last year.

As a result the council had applied for a control order under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

Ms Ryves, of Bassett Green Drive, Southampton, had consented to the conditions.

Daily Echo:

Michaele Ryves (second left) and her family are furious after pet Keizer was destroyed

But the council subsequently withdrew the application after it claimed that Ms Ryves failed to collect the dog from the council kennels within the standard seven days given to owners, which expired last weekend.

Due to the animal’s behaviour, the council decided that it could not be rehomed and had to be put to sleep.

A tearful Ms Ryves, 40, who claims that her dog had not attacked any dog in six months, said she felt decisions had been made behind her back.

She added: “I’m fuming and I’m going to take every step of legal action I can take to make them know what they have done is wrong.”

A council spokeswoman said that the dog’s behaviour presented a danger to other animals and potentially the public and insisted that Ms Ryves made no attempt to collect the dog.

She said: “The council has a responsibility by law to ensure that animals are kept under control and do not present a risk to the public.

“As such we had to make the difficult decision to put the dog to sleep this week.”