Police have been accused of cruelty after a dog was kept in solitary confinement in a small cage without exercise for two years.
Stella was seized by police in 2014 and is due to be destroyed on the orders of a court in the next few days.
The plight was exposed by a whistleblower at the kennels, where the dog has been kept in a cage that measures only three metres by one metre.
Laura Khanlarian, who quit her job over Stella’s treatment, claimed that the dog has been allowed out of the cage only twice — for behavioural assessments — and was banned from any contact with other dogs or humans.
Anthony Hastie, Stella’s owner, said the animal was seized on suspicion of being a pit bull during a visit by the police on an unrelated matter and has never attacked anyone.
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He claimed that the aggressive behaviour she displayed during the assessments at the kennel was the result of stress after being locked up for so long. He has been to court 11 times trying to get Stella returned but lost the final case at Torbay magistrates’ court on February 8 when Stella was ordered to be destroyed within 28 days.
Ms Khanlarian said she resigned because she felt that Stella’s treatment at the Foredowne Kennels in Kingkerswell, near Newton Abbott, Devon, was wrong. She said the police had given instructions that Stella was not to be allowed out for exercise.
Devon and Cornwall police have been accused of breaching guidelines drawn up by the RSPCA which say that dogs should be allowed at least 30 minutes of exercise a day.
Ms Khanlarian said: “We were told not to exercise or go into a kennel with any dogs, regardless of character, that had been brought in under the Dangerous Dogs Act.”
A veterinary expert said the conditions in which Stella was kept were cruel. Kendal Shepherd, a vet for 30 years, said: “It’s terrible. It’s unjustified. It’s wasting huge amounts of money and it’s not doing a single thing to prevent dog bites.”
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Devon and Cornwall police said that Stella was the only dog they have dealt with in the past two years that was deemed too dangerous to walk.
A spokesman said: “Once the dog was seized, an initial review was made in which the decision was reached that Stella was too dangerous to be exercised by kennel staff.
“This assessment remained under constant review and a number of further examinations were made by independent external experts including the RSPCA, who were all in agreement that the animal was too dangerous for staff to exercise.
“This dog has threatened and shown aggressive behaviour towards two police community support officers.”
Mr Hastie said: “Stella was forcibly taken from me by police in full riot gear. She has since been massively neglected.
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“It is a big con at the end of the day. Stella was not dangerous and not aggressive. You confine any animal to a box you will see how angry it gets.”
Stella’s story was broadcast on Inside Out South Weston BBC One in the southwest last night and will be available on the iPlayer.
Foredowne Kennels declined to comment.