DOG-LOVER Katrina Smythe broke down in tears as she was finally reunited with her pet Ria after a heartbreaking year apart.

Ria, a three-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier, was seized by police on May 5 last year as Katrina walked her in Cromwell Road, Hove.

Officers suspected the dog was an unlicensed pit bull and Katrina, 27, of Hova Villas, Hove, was charged with possessing an illegal breed under the Dangerous Dogs Act.

If the case had been proved, magistrates could have ordered that the dog should be destroyed.

But Katrina decided to fight for her beloved pet, which she had owned since Ria was eight weeks old.

She denied the charge and a four-day trial was due to start at Brighton Magistrates' Court yesterday.

But days earlier, the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the case on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

Katrina is overjoyed to have Ria home, but is angry and confused over being prosecuted and having to wait so long to get her pet back.

She said after they were reunited: "I got really emotional at first. I was in shock. I had a lump in my throat ever since I heard I was going to get her back.

"When I collected her at Hove police station she ran by me. I started crying and then she smelled me and just went crazy. She started jumping all over me.

"She is in a mess and I am going to get her to a vet straight away. She has lost so much weight and there is no hair around her ears. She has also got an eye infection.

"She was fit and healthy when she was taken by the police. I have not got a clue what she is going to be like mentally after being in a cage for a year.

"I still cannot understand why it has taken a year for the police to drop the case. Ria had never done anything wrong. I was taking her for a walk on a lead with a muzzle when we were stopped.

"This is the only law in the land where you are guilty and then you have to prove your innocence. It has been such a waste of public money."

Katrina did not visit Ria in custody after being told it would cost £140 to see her at kennels in Horsham and she would not be able to touch or feed her. Instead she worked with her legal team and dog experts to prove Ria was a Staffordshire bull terrier.

The distress of the legal proceedings and being separated from Ria forced Katrina to give up her job as a waitress. She has been receiving counselling and taking the anti-depressant Prozac.

She said: "I have done so much crying over the past year. It has been unbearable. Ria has been like a child to me. Every day I prayed that she was fine. This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me in my life."

Katrina's first priority when she got Ria home was to have a cup of tea and share a digestive biscuit, the dog's favourite, with her.

Police Sergeant Peter Simms, a dog officer based at Horsham, said: "The Crown Prosecution Service made the decision not to proceed due to the unavailability of a prosecution witness due to ill health. Consequently, in the absence of a decision by magistrates following a trial, the dog was returned to its owner.

"The dog has been well cared for and received regular medical examinations by an independent vet."

ACPS spokeswoman said: "The CPS is under a duty to keep cases under review at all stages of the proceedings."

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