Truckie sacked over pet poodle

Truck driver Peter Jensen was not able to deliver his load to Curtis Island because he had his poodle Benji with him.

Emily Blatchford

TRUCK driver Peter “PJ” Jensen claims to have been “delivery blacklisted” by a major LNG organisation due to the company he keeps – namely a small, black, fluffy poodle named Benji.

Mr Jensen arrived at the Gladstone Marina in his truck yesterday with a delivery of 27 sheet pilings but he said he was told he could not make the delivery to Curtis Island because his dog was in the cab of his truck.

Mr Jensen, who owns the truck, claims his boss was told that no more delivery work should be assigned to him because of his poodle.

“Benji travels the world with me,” Mr Jensen said. “I've made deliveries (to Curtis Island) about five times before and I've never had any problems. And he's been with me every time.

“It's ludicrous. I live on the road and I've got no place to leave him. (When I'm on-site) he never gets out of the cab of the truck.”

Bechtel, the major contractor of the three LNG projects, declined to comment.

THIESS, a subcontractor employed by Bechtel, stated that it had not directly contracted Mr Jensen and therefore could not comment on him or his poodle.

Mr Jensen is not worried about finding more delivery work, but he is furious at the circumstances surrounding his ceased employment.

“I'll find work anywhere because I'm a worker, not a bludger,” he said. “I just really wanted to keep on doing this job, but I've been sacked because of the dog issue.”

While acknowledging restrictions regarding bringing animals onto a national reserve, Mr Jensen denied Benji posed a threat to wildlife.

“What's he going to hurt?” he said.

“Look at him. When he's locked in the cab he can't hurt anybody. Worst he could do is lick you to death.

“Rules and regulations will cripple this country.”

Benji has been travelling with Mr Jensen for more than 20 months, since the truck driver decided to invest in a dog to keep him company on the road.