To Mark Lennox’s Second Year In Captivity At The Hands Of Belfast City Council The Save Lennox Campaign Asks Every Supporter To Take Part In A Special 72 Hour Twitter & Facebook Campaign Called ‘Each One, Reach One’ The Goal Is Each Lennox Supporter & Anti BSL Campaigner Reach One Other Person Who May Not Already Know About Lennox Or Breed Specific Legislation & Make That Person Aware Of Lennox’s Story & The Cruelty Of Breed Specific Legislation. To Make This Event Enjoyable For All We Are Asking You To Post A Picture Of Your Pets If Possible With Your Lennox Messages Of Support.

Here’s How:

1. Join Us On Twitter & Facebook From Friday 18^th May & Sunday 20^th May
2. Select One Or More People From Your Twitter Or Facebook Friends List
3. Send That Person A Short Tweet Or Facebook Message About Lennox Or
   Provide The Save Lennox Website Address: www.savelennox.co.uk

Twitter Hashtags: #SaveLennox #LennoxArmy #EndBSL

Twitter Follow: @SaveLennox

Facebook Like: facebook.com/TheLennoxCampaign

An Outrage In Belfast:
The Sad Case Of Lennox, The Dog.

Those of us living in what we consider free societies often feel secure that if we comply by laws, pay our taxes, and maintain other civic duties we should not live in fear of government officials entering our homes and disrupting our families.

Not so in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where a tragic situation that is nothing short of Orwellian has played out for over two years. Lennox, a Labrador/American Bulldog mix, was seized from the Barnes family under the U.K.’s “Dangerous Dogs Act” (DDA) and sentenced to death due simply to his physical measurements. Under the DDA, if a dog’s measurements are in line with their standard for “pit bull types”, the dog can be seized without warrant and sentenced to death (a recent amendment stipulates the that the dog must also be proven dangerous). The DDA assumption that physical traits dictate a dog’s behavioral tendencies is contradicted by well known dog experts and virtually every major veterinary, animal control, and emergency medical associations worldwide – all of whom have spoken out against these laws .

It’s hard to image a more unlikely target for the law than the Barnes family. Lennox is an American Bulldog/Labrador mix who had never been reported for any act of aggression, and in fact had never exhibited a single sign of misbehavior. He is not only a family pet, but has served as a therapy dog and soulmate for a disabled girl, Brook Barnes, who is now 13. Lennox’s family had provided a stable, loving home environment. He had been microchipped, neutered, DNA registered, insured, and even had a valid city-issued dog license. By all accounts, Caroline Barnes, a former veterinary nurse, is a model pet owner.

Yet on May 19, 2010, the City of Belfast saw fit to turn their world upside down, in the most baffling way imaginable: Two dog wardens (who operate under the auspices of Belfast City Council) came knocking at the Barnes door bearing a warrant with an entirely different address; it’s still unclear whether the visit was a simple mistake or prompted by Ms. Barnes’ recently renewing the city dog license. The Barnes related that after smoking cigarettes and pleasantly chatting over tea, they produced a tape with which they measured Lennox; they then announced they were seizing him because, by their assessment of his measurements, he was “of type.*

That was nearly two years ago. Since then, in spite of massive worldwide outcry, including pleas from noted dog behavioral experts and celebrities, a petition that now bears over 127,000 signatures, and a growing “Boycott Belfast” movement, Lennox has been held in a secret location while the family pitches a desperate legal battle for his life.

It’s no exaggeration to say that prosecution case against Lennox has been rife with inconsistencies, errors, and even accusations of perjury. The absurd twists and cast of characters could make this case darkly comic — Samuel Butler or Dickens would have had a romp with it — if it didn’t ultimately hinge on one innocent life, and the suffering of a heartbroken girl.

One would think the case would have been put to bed in September 2011, after two expert animal behaviorists, Sarah Fisher and David Ryan, presented the results of their separate, extensive evaluations of Lennox. Both came to the conclusion that Lennox is friendly and of no danger, and presented these reports to the court.

Inexplicably, the judge dismissed those evaluations, and instead relied on the opinion of one Peter Tallack, a police dog handler and noted supporter of the DDA, whose official role in the case was simply “breed identifier.” In a quirky bit of testimony, a flustered Tallack offered the opinion that Lennox was “waiting to go off,”

Apparently using this as the basis, Judge Rodgers called Lennox “a disaster waiting to happen” in a ruling that upheld Lennox’s death sentence not on the basis of any past or current behavior, but on a projection that he might be aggressive at some point in the future. (Imagine if a human defendant were convicted on these grounds!)

When the defense appealed again in late January of this year, the case was reviewed by the very same Judge Rodgers, who – surprise – chose not to overturn his own ruling.

Outrage sums up the reaction of Victoria Stilwell, celebrity dog trainer and host of the program “It’s Me or the Dog,” with whom I spoke earlier this year. Stilwell has been outspoken in her support for Lennox, devoting a number of articles and a podcast to it, and against breed specific legislation in general (which she sums up as “addressing the wrong end of the leash”). Stilwell has studied the video assessments of Lennox and reviewed Sarah Fisher’s report, and simply can’t believe the judge would have taken the word of Tallack – who is, by his own admission, not a behaviorist – over the the opinions of two highly regarded professionals.

Concurring with Stilwell is Jim Crosby, a dog trainer and expert in canine aggression. By his account, he has personally assessed more dogs involved in fatal attacks than anyone else on the planet. He stresses that breed is most certainly not a factor in determining whether a dog is dangerous or not; it is the individual characteristics of a dog. This is a man who knows aggressive animals, and he cries foul in the Lennox case. “This poor dog didn’t do anything, he was minding his own business, happily at home,” he said in a January conversation. “That’s the baffling thing.”

Also like Stilwell, Crosby questions why the testimony of Tallack, a police dog handler, was given credence by the judge. He says to have someone with Tallack’s highly focused skill set evaluate a family dog like Lennox for aggressive tendencies is “like asking a guy who works on Piper plane to repair the space shuttle.” It’s a very different type of dog in a completely different situation.

Both Stilwell and Crosby continue to speak out passionately about the Lennox case, and Stilwell has especially expressed alarm over evidence that Lennox’s health is deteriorating further, based on photo evidence showing massive hair loss and sores.

A final appeal to high court is set for May 24. If it is ruled that Lennox cannot be returned to his family, the defense is asking at least to allow a friendly party in the Republic of Ireland (where there is no breed specific legislation) to adopt him.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Belfast, a family’s beloved pet – a dog who has never spent so much as a day in a boarding kennel — remains locked in a small dank cell surrounded by sawdust and feces, a victim of misused policy and a few humans who would rather see him put to death than admit a mistake. Now, that’s a crime.

Article Source & Courtesy Joan K. Smith, Huffington Post

Positively Podcast Episode 201 (Full Version)
Lennox Hot Topic. Click Here To Listen Or Download

In the October 2011 edition of Victoria Stilwell’s Positively Podcast the main topic was Lennox. In this edition Victoria spoke about many things regarding the Lennox case and she also expressed concern regarding Lennox’s current skin condition after she had witnessed his poor fur condition and awful sores visible on his skin whilst she had been compiling her report from various assessment videos. Lennox always had a slight skin condition and such was well controlled and treated by his family while at home and many people who know Lennox and had seen Lennox prior to his seizure by the Belfast City Council dog warden would not have been at all aware that he had a skin aliment due to the ongoing treatment and quality of care his family had been giving Lennox. Speaking to her co-host about Lennox’s skin condition whilst in the so called care of Belfast City Council, Victoria stated that she was “shocked” after studying the assessment video by expert behaviourist Sarah Fisher. Victoria also explained how Lennox has a neck injury which Sarah Fisher also picked up on during her assessment of Lennox and along with bleeding from around the nail bed on one of his paws which David Ryan had also noted remains untreated by Belfast City Council to this day. Its now at this point people reading should note that Lennox had no injuries anywhere on his body before his seizure except a small scar from his neutering operation many years previous. Lennox’s condition shortly after seizure by Belfast City Council was also noted and mentioned by council dog wardens in their statements from which he was described as a dog in good health, after an apparent check over by a council contracted vet. Its unknown how Lennox’s neck and foot injury were obtained but one thing that is certain is that Lennox had none of these injuries prior to his seizure nor was he covered in massive bald patches or open sores. Many respectable veterinarians or those who are very knowledgeable of animal anatomy can explain that such a neck injury in a dog can come about by means of being pulled or yanked at force whilst having a chain type collar, heavy rope or even a catch pole placed around their necks and of course such injuries may come about due to simple rough play but many people already know and realise that given Lennox’s condition already most are sure Lennox hasn’t seen any form of play since his happy days at home with his family, furthermore given the powers that the USPCA have why have they not stepped in as this is clearly a case of cruelty, Lennox is being allowed to go without any proper medical attention, there’s simply no words or excuse for allowing this to happen and Belfast City Council can put whatever twist they want on this, it’s down right abusive and its cruel! Lennox is in the care of Belfast City Council and their contracted kennel so why isn’t he receiving adequate care?

In shock and concern Victoria further described to her positively podcast co-host and her listeners from around the globe what she had witnessed on the assessment videos taken while in the ‘care’ of Belfast City Council. Referring to Lennox’s poor skin and fur condition Victoria, with an air of sickening disbelief in her voice said “that condition is not being treated properly, that dog’s fur does not need to be like that” co-host Holly, replied “it’s abusive.”

Belfast City Council’s expert Peter Tallack is also discussed in Victoria’s podcast about Lennox. Victoria explains to her listeners that Peter Tallack who has no skills in dog behaviour, who is not a behaviourist and who does not understand dog behaviour but is paid by Belfast City Council to act as their expert was allowed by Judge Rodgers to give evidence as such. Victoria, in reference to Judge Rodgers acceptance of non expert evidence from Peter Tallack said ” the courts would rather go with untrained, unqualified evidence rather than evidence from two trained, two qualified behavioural experts who both assessed Lennox and said he was not a danger” Lennox supporters around the world now know that Peter Tallack admits himself he is no behaviourist so why was it then that he based any of his assessment report on such? Why was it that Judge Rodgers allowed such a bad stage act to progress? Why was it that Judge Rodgers ignored the evidence of two highly skilled behavioural experts being David Ryan and Sarah Fisher who both agree Lennox is not a danger? and why did Judge Rodgers ignore all the other expert evidence given in Lennox’s defence and instead opt to accept the non expert opinion of Peter Tallack? To set the scene and give some history on Peter Tallack, he is on record as saying that an effective means to controlling a non cooperative dog is to be able to kick, punch or even step on a dog, although strange and quite disturbingly he did once serve time as a dog handler within the Metropolitan Police where he finally retired a Police Constable after holding the position for twenty five years, furthermore any Google or other search online will list the Met Police dog bite statistics which makes for very alarming reading considering that many of the bites recorded were caused by Police dogs to their own Police dog handlers.

Victoria, on closing of her October 2011 Positively podcast stated that from what she has witnessed of all assessment videos taken of Lennox while in Belfast City Council captivity that she saw a dog who surrounded by strangers demonstrated “incredible impulse control and an intent not to harm, I don’t think Lennox is a dangerous dog, I think he needs to go back to his family.”

You can listen to or download the Victoria Stilwell Positively podcast about Lennox by clicking on the link toward the top of this article. The pictures contained within this article are some of those taken from one of Lennox’s assessment videos and show the skin and fur condition that Victoria Stilwell is referring to in her podcast.

A small group of people, who they themselves, claim to be supporters, friends and even show listed as Facebook friends of a certain Belfast City Council dog warden released small, carefully planned snippets of Lennox’s assessment videos and documents last year online before the video’s had been shown in court, videos that they shouldn’t have had in their possession but if one of their posts from Facebook (see below image) is to be believed and true then one of them called Ann did admit online that she was contacted by someone within the council, offered and sent copies of Lennox’s assessment videos and documents.

These same people posted small edited pieces of video online in an attempt to portray Lennox in a bad light and to hopefully discredit the real experts acting for Lennox but unknowingly to them they actually helped show the world just how well of a self controlled, well behaved and beautiful dog Lennox actually is even after being looked up by strangers and neglected for two years. The obvious question is however, why didn’t these hateful people post the full video instead of edited snippets? Maybe its because it would have shown the world the truth, how Lennox isn’t a danger as his family and three real experts have stated all along, maybe it was because had they released the full video which they have then the world would have seen the horrendous skin condition that Lennox is being made to suffer whilst in the ‘care’ of Belfast City Council. The same small group of people in an attempt to disrupt Lennox’s case also setup fake duplicate Facebook profiles of certain Save Lennox campaigners and proceeded to post each other threatening and abusive messages online, screen capturing the messages and again distributing the screen captures online in aid to claim they had been sent from genuine Save Lennox supporters and campaigners, not satisfied there, the same people then recently setup a fake forum on which they posted fake messages and comments pretending to be from Save Lennox campaigners in an attempt to raise and secure funds, this group then screen captured the fake messages and sent them to Belfast City Council’s legal department who also attempted to act upon false information sent to them again in an attempt to disrupt and even bring a halt to innocent Lennox’s fight for life, however in their rush to help supply fake screen captures to Belfast City Council’s legal department the person who setup the fake forum and those who posted fake comments on the same forum did not realise that their IP addresses had been captured revealing their real identity. Thankfully this small group of twisted individuals failed in their attempts and Lennox’s legal hearing case goes ahead. More on this will be published in the coming weeks. Read Sarah Fisher’s statement on the leaked video edits here.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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As you will all know our Family foster for various Northern Ireland dog rescue groups. Like all rescue groups throughout the United Kingdom they rely heavily on public generosity whether that comes in the form of cash donations, bedding, food, toys or foster parents. We are dedicating this page to all the dog rescue groups we have fostered for, all their super hero staff, volunteers and foster families and would also like to thank all those associated with fostering and rescue around the world for giving up so much of your own time to make a difference.

- FINALLY FOUND A FOREVER HOME - Meet Max our current foster dog who we are fostering. Max is a little 3 year old Jack Russell cross that came to us in a very sorry state, he had a very bad skin condition possibily due to being left outside in filthy conditions for the first part of his life, thankfully now his skin is cured and now completely clear of his past ailments. He’s a lively little chap that loves tummy rubs, actually he’s addicted to tummy rubs, very well behaved around the home and will sit at your front door to let you know he needs to go out to the little doggies room. Max is superb on a lead and well behaved around other dogs. Max is house trained, neutered, has had all his vaccinations and has settled into foster family life without problem but all he wants is his very own forever home. Do you think you could love Max and offer this little man his permanent home?

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- FINALLY FOUND A FOREVER HOME - Our latest edition to our current foster family is 12 week old Amy. Amy is a Lurcher Whippet cross who came to our home from a council owned pound where she was scheduled to be PTS. When Amy arrived with us she was very underweight, and quite ill due to being underweight but fortunately for her she was rescued just before coming to us. Amy has now put on a good weight, is now 100% healthy and she is very lively and loves to play with other dogs and Children. Amy is house trained, has had all her vaccinations but obviously given her age has yet to be spayed. Have a look at Amy below, do you think you can provide the love, care and a forever home for Amy?

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For 732 days 19 minutes 16 seconds, Lennox Has Been Locked Up By Belfast City Council Alone & Without His Family.

Hi I’m now a 7 year old American Bull dog Labrador cross and Belfast City Council want to put me to death because of how I look, I have never done any wrong. Please can you help me? I want to go home!

On the 19th May 2010, Lennox, a now six year old American Bull dog Labrador cross was wrongfully seized by Belfast City Council Dog Wardens from his loving family home where he lives with his owners and his kennel mates. Lennox committed no crime nor did any member of the public complain about him. Three Belfast City Council Dog Wardens came with the PSNI to his home unannounced. The Dog Wardens then told the Police to leave as there was no need for them at the location.  The Belfast City Council Dog Wardens then had tea with his owners, smoked cigarettes, chatted, played with the other family dogs after which the Dog Wardens then measured Lennox’s muzzle and rear legs with a dress maker’s tape measure and decided on those measurements without seeking any professional advice that he was possible “Pit Bull Type Breed” and so he was led from his home to be put to death by the Council. Northern Ireland has yet to fully implement the same dog legislation as mainland UK; if Northern Ireland were to complete the dog legislation here then Lennox could now be at home with his family and they would not now be facing legal prosecution. The USPCA said the law in Northern Ireland could be changed simply and rather quickly by an order in Council.

Lennox’s family have done more than required by the law as responsible dog owners who also foster dogs for various Northern Ireland dog shelters. When Lennox was a puppy his owners had him neutered, licensed, insured, DNA registered, Pet Safe registered and micro chipped and although the Belfast City Council have issued a dog licence for Lennox for the last five years and continue to do so today, the Council now find the need to class him as a Pit Bull type dog and murder him. On the day Lennox was ripped from his family home the Belfast City Council issued his owner with a warrant of seizure which was incorrectly addressed and was for another location, furthermore the Council used the ADBA Inc (American Dog Breeders Association Incorporated) breed standards guide to help identify Lennox as possible Pit Bull type. It has now become clear that the Council used this ADBA breed standards guide illegally breaking international and Berne copyright laws as Belfast City Council have never been authorised by the ADBA to use the copyrighted breed standards guide in full or derived version. Since Lennox’s seizure the ADBA have issued the Belfast City Council with ‘Cease & Desist’ orders due to the Council’s unauthorised continued use of ADBA material.

Lennox’s owners have only been contacted once by the Belfast City Council and this was two hours after Lennox had been taken. One of the Dog Wardens who seized Lennox telephoned Lennox’s owner to say “If you do not sign him over to us to be destroyed then you will most certainly lose your job as we will force a prosecution upon you through the courts.” On many attempts the family have telephoned the Council’s Dog Control Manager but to date the Manager has never taken the families call or returned any calls. Lennox’s family have never been told where he is being kept, what condition he is in, what type of care, feeding or regular exercise he receives, if any. Lennox’s family have repeatedly requested visitation to see what condition he is in however the Dog Control Manager for Belfast City Council Dog Wardens Department has continually refused all requests through the families Solicitor. Photographs of Lennox have emerged recently and have been passed to the family which clearly show Lennox in a cold inhumane concrete kennel which is visibly too small, there are no visible signs of a constant fresh water supply, heating, toys for stimulation and the photographs show Lennox sitting upright in a box type bed surrounded by his own faeces with only saw dust for bedding which many dog experts have agreed is harmful to dogs and unsuitable for bedding, yet Belfast City Council Dog Wardens Department have stated they practice humane animal welfare as set out by the DARD (Department of Agriculture and Rural Development). After studying the Animal Welfare Act 2006 it is clear that none of Lennox’s welfare needs are being met at this undisclosed Council contracted kennel.

Local leading MP’s joined in support of Lennox stating in the Belfast Telegraph and other media they were “Appalled” by the seizure and treatment of Lennox and his family. A global campaign which boasts hundreds of thousands of supporters and petition signatures has begun in support of Lennox’s freedom. The ADBA Inc, various Animal Rights groups, Animal Welfare organisations, Veterinarians, Dog Breed and Behaviourist Experts have all gave their support for Lennox’s freedom and many supporters who are regular tourists to Northern Ireland have went further to state they will not return to Northern Ireland until Lennox is returned to his home. The most heartfelt plea of all was heard from Brooke, the owners eleven year old Daughter who is registered disabled. Lennox grew up around Brooke and the two became inseparable. Due to Brooke’s illness she is unable to play each day with other children and so found Lennox to always be there as a playmate and someone to be of comfort to her. Since her best friend was taken Brooke has missed much School due to suffering health and unneeded stress caused by missing her dog. Brooke’s specialist Doctor at Belfast Royal Hospital for Sick Children has also expressed growing concern for the child’s separation from her pet.

We ask for your help to Save Lennox, stop his incarceration and stop him from being put to death by Belfast City Council who wrongfully took him. If you have any compassion you will clearly see that far too many wrongs and errors have been made by the Council in the seizure of this much loved family pet and you will help correct a wrong. Please help this little girl become reunited with her best friend.

Sign The Save Lennox Petition: www.savelennoxpetition.co.uk

Do you want to have your say on Lennox? Express your concerns regarding the Lennox case and how this injustice is cruel and wrong, the condition he is in and Belfast City Council’s continual refusal to grant family visitation. Let your voice be heard by emailing the Lord Mayor, Belfast City Council, Belfast City Council Dog Wardens, Belfast City Council Dog Control Manager and her superiors. Also included below are contact details for the Northern Ireland Assembly Departments, Ministers, constituent MP’s and MLA’s. Let them know the global community is watching and we will not allow this injustice to continue. Use the below email links:

- Belfast -

Belfast City Lord Mayor:
lordmayorsoffice@belfastcity.gov.uk

Northern Ireland USPCA:
enquiries@uspca.co.uk

- Department Of Agriculture & Rural Development -

Department Of Agriculture & Rural Development (DARD)
animal.welfare@dardni.gov.uk

Michelle O’Neill (Minister For DARD)
private.office@dardni.gov.uk

- Belfast City Council -

Belfast City Council Complaints:
complaints@belfastcity.gov.uk

Belfast City Council Chief Executive:
mcnaneyp@belfastcity.gov.uk

Belfast City Council Health & Enviromental Department:
environmentalhealthservice@belfastcity.gov.uk

Belfast City Council Health & Enviromental Manager:
wylies@belfastcity.gov.uk

Belfast City Council Dog Warden Department:
dogwardens@belfastcity.gov.uk

Belfast City Council Dog Warden Manager:
elwoody@belfastcity.gov.uk

Belfast City Council Dog Warden:
lightfoots@belfastcity.gov.uk

Belfast City Council Dog Warden:
franceyw@belfastcity.gov.uk

- Number 10 Downing Street -

Prime Ministers Office
primeministersoffice

- Northern Ireland Assembly -

Northern Ireland Assembly
info.office@niassembly.gov.uk

- Northern Ireland First & Deputy First Minister -

First & Deputy First Ministers Office
ps.ministers@ofmdfmni.gov.uk

- Local MP’s For North Belfast -

Nigel Dodds DUP MP North
ndodds@dup-belfast.co.uk

Nelson McCausland DUP MLA North
nmccausland@dup-belfast.co.uk

Fred Cobain UUP MLA North
uup@uup.org

Gerry Kelly Sinn Fein MLA North
sfadmin@eircom.net

Alban Maginness SDLP MLA North
a.maginness@sdlp.ie

- Other Useful Links -

USPCA

Department Of Argiculture & Rural Development

Northern Ireland Assembly

Below are three template letters in various formats that can be used to be sent to the above email addresses. Please remember that you must state in your email that you do not wish to receive a standard reply otherwise the Council will send you a lazy uninterested standard reply.

NotePad Format Microsoft Word Format Adobe PDF Format

Alternatively you may wish to use the Belfast City Council online complaints form to issue a complaint regarding the seizure and treatment of Lennox and his Family. Please use the following link to do so: Belfast City Council Online Complaints Form

You can also sign the Save Lennox petition here and join the thousands who have already taken the time and placed their name on the petition for the release of Lennox. You may also be interested in sharing the petition link on other websites, forums, social networks or by email, if so then you can copy this short version URL of the petition: www.savelennoxpetition.co.uk

You may also wish to download and distribute the Save Lennox Campaign flyer below. If you require a larger format flyer please contact us using the “Contact Us” icon link found at the top of each page. Click on the below image to open the full size campaign flyer.

Save Lennox Campaign Flyer

Brooke's Wish On Lennox's Birthday

Today marks Lennox’s seventh birthday which should be a happy time. This is now the second birthday Lennox has spent in Belfast City Council’s captivity, kept from his family and all that he knows, no visitation, no proper care and no birthday cuddles or playtime from those who love him dearly, alone!

A small minority group of fourteen people mainly lead by two very deceiving and quite unstable women and who have recently been linked with activities in which they transported illegal dogs outside of the UK, are, according to Facebook profiles, friendly with a certain dog warden and claim to be council supporters have in the past been responsible for posting sick comments about Lennox’s now thirteen year old owner. These same sick people have laughed at and made comments in attempt to taunt Lennox supporters and campaigners by posting such things as “what has Lennox’s campaign and stupid supporters achieved so far” which is one of many typical comments from this small coven of pro BSL supporters who troll the social media networks. Although it is true that the legal process has been slower than many would like including Lennox’s owners and that he has not yet been granted his own freedom Lennox has however, according to many dog owners and experts, helped many other BSL victims globally by highlighting the need for BSL abolishment. Lennox has helped make many more people aware of the cruelty of BSL and brought attention to those government bodies who participate in Breed Specific Legislation, in actual fact brave and innocent Lennox has achieved many things from his concrete cell with the help of his enormous following in the past two years and because of his cruel and very wrong incarceration by Belfast City Council many other dog owners have been reunited with their beloved dogs as many authorities and courts have seen the wrongs, the failings and public waste of money with many BSL cases due to the global outcry regarding Lennox and so have rewarded freedom to many innocent dogs who had been wrongfully seized, locked up inhumanely under BSL awaiting a death sentence sometimes for many years and all simply because of how they look.

Lennox’s case forced the Northern Ireland Executive to bring in the breed exemption laws to Northern Ireland in the hope that Northern Ireland would now be more in sync with mainland UK dog exemption legislation, although Northern Ireland has yet to fully implement and fall in-line completely with the rest of the UK regarding the exemption legislation. Lennox has united many hundreds of thousands of people under one campaign to fight for what is clearly right, that dog owners should now take a stand before BSL steam rolls further out of control and begins adding further breeds to the list instead of tackling the real issue which is at the other end of the dog lead. For any country, government, council authority or police force to continue with Breed Specific Legislation is absurd and very wrong as it will and has already simply pushed the real problems underground and will cause an increase in those who shouldn’t have certain breeds becoming more accessible to certain breeds for illegal activities such as the very cruel act of dog fighting. Government now need to stop, take a long hard look at BSL and realise that by not tackling the real problem that they are instead punishing the innocent family dogs and responsible owners and in turn making illegal breeds more of a must have property to the criminal and irresponsible owner, you simply cannot brush the problem under the carpet by enforcing an evil, wrong and much publicly hated legislation as BSL and believe that out of sight means out of mind. Lennox has opened the eyes of the public by revealing the inner workings, thoughts, actions and evil manipulative side of such authorities as Belfast City Council and those people hired by Belfast City Council who believe in a utopian dog world, believe that because dogs have teeth and look a certain way then they are all aggressive, dangerous and will maul everyone and anything without warning and one of these very people who have also been paid vast amounts of tax payers money to stand before a court, say what they have been told to say and spew what can only be described as unprofessional, non relative and non expert tripe is one ex MET PC, he continually relies on his twenty five years experience as a PC dog handler when introducing himself in court and who currently acts on behalf of Belfast City Council as their so called “expert” and will represent any prosecuting authority just as long as the money is right. Since Lennox’s last court appeal hearing in September 2011 the very same non behaviourist, ex MET police dog handler used and paid by Belfast City Council in Lennox’s case has had what seems to be a short string of court case losses were he has acted as “expert witness” for prosecution but now it seems that many mainland UK courts and real qualified experts are seeing through this dog handler’s non expert opinion as bit by bit unknowing to him he is revealing his real motives and who shockingly believes and practices kicking, poking and placing your foot heavily on a dogs neck is an effective way to train a dog that is uncooperative. It has become clear to many that this strange volatile and unpredictable man has a very clear, obvious hatred and discrimination for anything bull breed and it also appears that he doesn’t like being cross examined in court which usually provokes an outburst from him as in Lennox’s previous court hearing. Let’s hope that Northern Ireland courts soon follow suit and also begin to take less notice of what this money driven vile man has to say and that his money spinning career comes to and end sooner rather than later before he is responsible for the murder of any further innocent family pets, let’s hope that the Northern Ireland courts now begin to actually listen and accept the opinions, statements, assessments and recommendations given by real qualified experts such as David Ryan, Sarah Fisher and Victoria Stilwell who all agree that Lennox offers no threat, is not aggressive and should be allowed home to his family immediately.

At time of writing Lennox has spent 684 days in the captivity of Belfast City Council without ever being granted visitation from his family or those who he knows but as previously mentioned Lennox and his supporters have changed many things for others in this time and one thing amongst this nightmare will remain true, Lennox is loved by many hundreds of thousands of animal and non animal owners around the world and no matter the outcome he will never be forgotten nor will the actions of Belfast City Council and their warden who began this wrongful hate filled incarceration of an innocent, beautiful and brave dog in which Belfast City Council and their wardens abused the powers entrusted to them, they will never be allowed to forget the damage, hurt, pain and suffering that they have caused Lennox, his family and his now thirteen year old owner and the public will always remember how Belfast City Council continued with their own agenda to murder an innocent dog just to punish a family who very publicly spoke out against them.

Belfast City Council will no doubt once again and very soon claim their usual media spin stating that they acted within the law and are only carrying out their jobs and the legislation as past by the Northern Ireland Executive to which all Lennox campaigners again agree and make the statement once more that no-one has ever had issue with Belfast City Council dog wardens doing their job, the issue many have is how the wardens went about their jobs and have done so throughout this case, so again we ask people to remember how Lennox’s seizure from his home took place, all the non legal procedures, documents and how Belfast City Council and their wardens have acted throughout with very differing statements from wardens in court, intimidation tactics toward Lennox’s owner, legal threats issued by Belfast City Council’s legal department which will in time all be revealed and the lies that have been told in and out of court by one woman in particular that still claims she is afraid of Lennox, refuses to be around him and states he is aggressive even though she is known and has been seen playing with Lennox and allowing him to lick her face. Some may ask what Belfast City Council and their warden department stand to gain from this agenda of past events, it isn’t a question of what they have to gain, its what they stand to lose should Lennox be given his rightful freedom and Belfast City Council are well aware of what it means!

To mark the occasion of Lennox’s seventh birthday the Save Lennox Campaign and many global campaigners and supporters have organised a Twitter tweet-storm to again highlight the need to abolish BSL, to remember all victims of BSL past and present and to bring public attention back to Lennox’s plight. Family, friends and campaigners may not be able to share Lennox’s birthday with him physically but we will be heard and Lennox will know that united we all continue to fight for him and many others like him!

For those wishing to take part in the Save Lennox Twitter tweet-storm you can do so by logging into Twitter tonight from 9PM (UK) Sunday April 1st using the hash tag #SaveLennox and for those who may not have Twitter accounts or cannot sign up for a free Twitter account then you can post your birthday messages for Lennox on his official Facebook page.

April 1st may be Lennox’s seventh birthday but it’s Belfast City Council who are the real fools for allowing this cruelty to have taken place!

17th May 2012, To mark Lennox’s second year in cruel captivity at the hands of Belfast City Council the Save Lennox Campaign is asking every supporter to take part in a special 72 hour Twitter & Facebook campaign called ‘Each One, Reach One’ The aim being each Lennox Supporter, Anti BSL Campaigner and Animal Right’s Activist unite and reach one other person who may not already know about Lennox, Dangerous Dog’s Act or Breed Specific Legislation and to make that person aware of Lennox’s story and the cruelty of Breed Specific Legislation that is responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent and loved family pets each year. The Save Lennox Campaign posted recently on the official Save Lennox Facebook page saying “This event is to again highlight the urgency for a repeal of BSL. BSL hasn’t protected the public, it’s failed, the wrong dogs and people are being punished and the public certainly haven’t been protected as attacks continue to rise. The Each One Reach One event isn’t just for Lennox, it’s for every BSL victim past, present and sadly future unless everyone, everywhere takes a stand against this evil legislation and speaks out now before their innocent family pet is next, there’s no point crying about it when it happens to you when they could have acted now and stood up against BSL which is why we hope everyone in all timezones will take part over the three day event” More information on the event that is being hosted on social networks Twitter and Facebook beginning on Friday 18th May at midnight and continues through to Sunday 20th May can be found on this site or by visiting the official Save Lennox Facebook page.

Lennox Features In America’s Huffington Post

10th May 2012, America’s largest online news provider the Huffington Post today published Lennox’s story further increasing the global knowledge of Lennox’s plight and the actions of Belfast City Council throughout Lennox’s legal battle. The article written by columnist Joan Smith touches on many subjects including Northern Ireland’s justice system, the UK’s Dangerous Dog Act, experts Victoria Stilwell and Sarah Fisher, Belfast City Council’s contracted dog handler Peter Tallack and the wrongly addressed warrant produced on the day of seizure of Lennox by Belfast City Council.

Lennox Fight For Life Continues To Gain Larger Global Audience

8th May 2012, Users of social network Twitter often use the Follow Friday hashtag as a way to recommend and thank fellow Twitter users on Friday’s however the use of hashtags are also a superb means of advertisement for various businesses, groups and campaigns. On a weekly basis the FollowFriday.com website counts Twitter usage of the Follow Friday hashtag and awards each global Twitter user a ranking according to how many times individual Twitter users have used their particular hashtag thus calculating the ranking and reach for a hashtag. In a recent calculation the FollowFriday.com website calculated the #SaveLennox hashtag usage and ranked Lennox 4,049 from 21,558,090 in a global user ranking. Although these rankings change each week this recent calculation further proves that Lennox’s story is reaching a larger global audience demonstrating just how many people around the world are aware of Lennox’s plight, care for Lennox and support his fight for life whilst Belfast City Council pursue their case to have innocent Lennox murdered further damaging their own reputation and unfortunately that of Northern Ireland. The Save Lennox Campaign would like to thank all global supporters for their continued support and ongoing campaigning to make more people aware of Lennox’s fight for life.

May 24th Set Aside For Possible Lennox Hearing

21st April 2012, On May 24th both legal teams are scheduled to put forward their evidence in a brief hearing to allow the Northern Ireland courts service to make a decision whether Lennox’s case should be allowed to further progress. Any further updates will be available in the coming weeks from the official Save Lennox Campaign website.

Lennox Features As The Hot Topic On Victoria Stilwell’s Positively Podcast

31st March 2012, In the October 2011 episode of the new season, Victoria and Holly discuss what they’ve been up to for the past several months, including Victoria’s filming of the 8th season of It’s Me or the Dog, experiencing the recent earthquake and hurricane, Victoria on Anderson Cooper, the Hero Dog Awards, Holly’s judging of Miss Tennessee, her dog Kashmir’s knee surgery, and Victoria’s development of her new Canine Noise Phobia series of desensitization products. Also discussed, Victoria’s upcoming trip to San Diego for a dog training conference and pet expo, her upcoming live tour dates, Holly’s work as a correspondent for CNN, and the new podcast sponsor, Pets Add Life. The hot topic was the case of Lennox, a pit bull type dog in Belfast who is scheduled to be euthanized due to Northern Ireland’s antiquated breed specific legislation (BSL).

Lennox Case Listed For Review 30th March

28th March 2012, The globally followed and supported Save Lennox Campaign again waits for some kind of decision to the fate of innocent Lennox. Although no definite date had been confirmed by Northern Ireland courts service it is known however on March 30th Lennox’s case will be reviewed by the High Court during which Lennox’s legal team hope to be granted an appeal hearing and a date for such to be set during which another request for Lennox to be exported out of Northern Ireland will again be put forward should Lennox not to be granted his deserved freedom. April 1st sees Lennox’s 7th birthday which will be his second birthday in Belfast City Council’s captivity, to mark the occasion the Save Lennox Campaign and campaigners plan to unite on Facebook and Twitter for a special Save Lennox tweetstorm to again highlight the evil wrongs of breed specific legislation around the globe and to once again share Lennox’s plight and suffering at the hands of Belfast City Council. You can join in with the Twitter tweetstorm on April 1st at 21.00 (9pm UK) using hash tag #SaveLennox or visit the Save Lennox Campaign Facebook page.

New Lennox Appeal Submitted After Judge Rodgers Rules In Favour Of Innocent Lennox’s Death

23rd January 2012, On January 13th 2012 Judge Rodgers updated his verdict and upheld his original ruling that innocent family pet Lennox must be put to death due to how he looks. Although Judge Rodgers reportedly made all parties aware of his latest decision on January 13th the family of Lennox however were not made aware of this latest decision until it had been published in a local newspaper which included a shocking and very hurtful title by the reporter. Judge Rodgers who reviewed his own previous verdict which included a death sentence passed down to innocent Lennox in September 2011 came about his recent decision claiming Lennox’s legal team did not establish any adequate point of law within his previous handling of the case. Many supporters have since cried out in anger questioning the courts as to why a Judge who passes a death sentence can review his own original judgement as it is pretty obvious the same judge would find he had made no mistake by not exercising all options put before him which included moving Lennox outside of the UK, nonetheless these questioning calls seem to have fallen on deaf ears as it seems perfectly normal for a Northern Ireland county court judge to review his own case. Another appeal has been submitted by Lennox�s legal team in response to Judge Rodgers Jan 13th ruling.

The Wait Continues For Lennox & Family

22nd December 2011, As innocent Lennox spends yet another Christmas away from his family locked up in a cold concrete cell with saw dust covered floor his family and hundreds of thousands of global supporters, campaigners and celebrities wait patiently for news of whether the Northern Ireland judicial system will grant another appeal and this time actually listen to real experts other than those over paid to say what they have been told to say and who are clearly not experts in any sense. Judge Rodgers took time to consider whether another appeal should or should not be given to Lennox after Lennox�s legal team lodged points of law with the Northern Ireland courts stating various points where Judge Rodgers may have failed to exercise all options put before him before he handed down his death sentence to gentle Lennox after he heard three varying and totally different statements from three council employees at Lennox�s final appeal hearing back in September. Many of Lennox�s supporters and his family thought that the courts may have given their decision before Christmas but as the new year approaches it now looks unlikely there will be any news from the courts regarding an appeal decision, the next news from the courts is now expected in the first part of the new year. Many people believe that the case against Lennox and his family is now out of the hands of Belfast City Council when in actual fact Belfast City Council could drop their case against gentle Lennox and his family at any time therefore ending the courts sentencing and prosecution of a much loved family pet and his disabled twelve year old owner. However Belfast City Council seem determine to waste tax payers money which is now well into tens of thousands spent attempting to make a point out of Lennox, score points against Lennox�s family for speaking out against Belfast City Council. It has been known for some time now that Belfast City Council�s vendetta and witch hunt has indeed very little to do with Lennox now and everything to do with punishing Lennox�s family, supporters and anyone who dares to stand up and speak out against Belfast City Council. In the meantime the world watches and waits for some news or a sensible decision to be made in the beginning of 2012.

Announcing The Launch Of The Save Lennox Christmas Campaign

1st December 2011, As this is the second Christmas that innocent Lennox is spending separated from his family the Save Lennox Campaign in conjunction with DDA Watch are announcing the launch of the Save Lennox Christmas Campaign which includes a new single dedicated to Lennox released by Maria Daines and Paul Killington entitled �Jingle Bells for Lennox� The Christmas Campaign aims to highlight his story and keep Lennox�s fight for life fresh in the thoughts of everyone over the Christmas period and also allow people to spare a thought for all those other innocent dogs past and present who find themselves victims of the unjust BSL.

Save Lennox Christmas Campaign

30th November 2011, A new rendition of the traditional Christmas song �Jingle Bells� has been released online today as part of an ongoing appeal to save the life of a family dog currently incarcerated by Belfast City Council Dog Control Department. Lennox�s family and supporters hope the song �Jingle Bells for Lennox� will highlight their Christmas campaign and keep Lennox in hearts and minds through the holiday season and beyond. The campaign includes an appeal for the public to remember abandoned and unwanted pets and to consider sending a gift to a rescue shelter for dogs and cats in need.

Belfast City Council Dog Wardens Outed By Own Supporter Using Fake Facebook Accounts

10th November 2011, It has been revealed that one or more Belfast City Council dog wardens involved in the seizure of Lennox from his home in May 2010 has been using fake Facebook accounts to leak court documents and clips of evidence videos that were originally unsigned by court for public release. The documents and videos began appearing on Facebook posted from the fake accounts seemingly in an attempt to portray Lennox, his Family, supporters, those involved in his legal campaign in a bad light but in an evil twist hurtful comments were also posted by some of the warden�s supporters regarding Lennox’s owners Daughter. The revelation came when one of the wardens own minority supporters noticed that a personal mobile telephone number, name and location on a Facebook account was identical to a past advertisement made by the very same dog warden seeking a suitable dog for agility training. Upon noticing the error that had been made the dog warden Family member then published a statement on Facebook admitting what they had done and even tried explaining their actions which to all reading seemed to be a statement of damage control.

Pete The Vet Speaks About Lennox On Ireland’s TV3

5th October 2011, Vet Pete Wedderburn speaks about Lennox, Belfast City Council, BSL and the recent introduction of BSL to Australia on Ireland’s TV3 morning programme. If you are unable to receive the TV3 channel then click on the title link above to watch the online version of the programme.

Lennox To Be Murdered By Belfast City Council Contracted Vet But Family Fight On

30th September 2011, As most will now have heard Lennox’s Family lost the appeal hearing to spare his life. Judge Derek Rodgers based his decision on two lies told by a certain Belfast City Council dog warden who also committed perjury in a previous hearing. Lennox’s Family have been granted a 14 day window to again appeal the Judge�s decision. It is now widely known and thought that this case is not only flawed but many celebrities, qualified expert dog behaviourists, dog trainers and those within a legal arena have also stated that the case is less or nothing to do with Lennox but seems to be a political judgement on the Family for speaking out. How else can a non dog behaviourist and three dog wardens who all gave differing statements are rewarded by a Judge especially as their evidence has been proven wrong by actual experts. People need to begin reading between the lines and asking questions as this recent outcome does not only affect Lennox but all dog owners of all breeds.

Lennox Life Or Death Decision Expected Friday 30th

23rd September 2011, After many hours listening to evidence from both parties Judge Derek Rodgers at Belfast Magistrates Court called for a one week postponement to allow him time to study evidence in more detail before giving his decision on Lennox’s fate this Friday 30th. During the court appeal hearing the court heard from expert witness Sarah Fisher acting for Lennox, she said Lennox is a �friendly dog� who “does not pose a threat to the public� Sarah Fisher has many years experience working with all types of animals and is one of the UK’s leading professionals in animal behaviour. Sarah Fisher is also accredited as the UK’s highest qualified Equine and Companion Animal TTouch Instructor and runs the UK TTouch Centre that offers help in training, handling and rehabilitation of horses and companion animals. Ending her evidence Judge Derek Rodgers took time to thank Sarah Fisher for her evidence. The court also heard from Belfast City Council’s expert witness Peter Tallack an ex Metropolitan Police PC of 25 years who acted as a dog handler whilst serving as a PC until his retirement. Mr Tallack took the witness stand to be cross examined and as proceedings progressed Mr Tallacks replies became more aggressive and agitated as he seemed extremely uncomfortable during which he continually fidgeted. In a bizarre outburst a flustered, blush faced Mr Tallack who was seemingly attempting to evade a question when being cross examined took from his pocket a handkerchief, wiped his face and brow several times, sipped from a glass of water before boasting to Judge Derek Rodgers “Your Honour I am sorry I cannot continue as people in the gallery are looking at me.” Before leaving the witness stand Mr Tallack implied that as Ms Barnes walks with a limp she should not own a dog of such size or strength, this comment was immediately halted by Ms Barnes Barrister who objected to Mr Tallacks comment stating “You are not a medical professional and therefore you do not know my clients medical history.”

Appeal Hearing Continues Friday 23rd

19th September 2011, Due to the court running out of time to hear all evidence regarding Lennox’s case the final part of the appeal hearing will be held this Friday 23rd September when both Lennox’s expert Sarah Fisher and the Belfast City Council’s expert Peter Tallack will present their evidence. In the first part of the appeal hearing those who attended court heard evidence given by three Belfast City Council dog wardens all of which differed in many details again showing that the Belfast City Council dog wardens involved cannot completely be trusted to provide accurate and truthful accounts of Lennox or their involvement in his seizure.

Daily Mirror Publish Another Lennox Article

13th September 2011, Today the Daily Mirror newspaper printed another article covering the damning evidence that Belfast City Council and Council employed dog wardens involved in Lennox’s seizure gave false or misleading evidence in a previous court hearing. Click on the above title to read the full story including the Daily Mirror article.

An Act Of Perjury

9th September 2011, During the last Court hearing a Belfast City Council dog warden involved in Lennox’s seizure told Judge Ken Nixon under oath that Lennox was aggressive and she continued to tell the court in her evidence that she doesn’t go near Lennox for fear of her own safety. The latest article added to this site proves this dog warden committed an act of perjury. Read the full article by clicking on the above title.

Victoria Stilwell Speaks About BSL & Lennox

22nd July 2011, Celebrity dog trainer and presenter of hit TV show �It�s Me Or The Dog� has joined ranks with many hundreds of thousands of worldwide supporters and celebrities calling for the release of Lennox and the repeal of BSL. Victoria Stilwell joins an ever growing list of celebrities showing support for Lennox on Twitter and Facebook speaking out not just for Lennox but all victims of BSL. Many celebrities have reported directly messaging Belfast City Council making them aware that the eyes of the world is upon them however many have reported being ignored or blocked by Belfast City Council from various other means such as Twitter and Facebook.

Court Appeal Date Set

13th July 2011, Today the Save Lennox Campaign has been made aware that Lennox’s case will be in court again on the 16th September for the long awaited court appeal of Lennox’s destruction order which was previously passed down by district Judge Ken Nixon at the last court hearing. After the Save Lennox Campaign ran a poll for a one week period on this site asking people if they felt Judge Nixon had allowed all the actual case related facts from Lennox’s legal team to be heard and if Judge Nixon had made the correct decision 2,455 total votes were logged, 97% (2,391 votes) agreed that Judge Nixon did not allow all the facts to be heard from Lennox’s legal team and only 3% (64 votes) felt Judge Nixon was correct in his decision ordering Lennox to be destroyed. Shortly after the poll had expired many supporters who attended the previous court hearing contacted the Save Lennox Campaign stating that Judge Nixon quite happily sided with Belfast City Council as he had clearly made his decision in favour of Belfast City Council only minutes into the hearing.

MTV Supporting Animal Cruelty While Associating With Belfast Council To Host EMA’s 2011

7th March 2011, Everyone has now heard the great news that MTV is hosting the 2011 European Music Awards in Belfast this November but we ask do MTV know that they are openly supporting animal cruelty by associating themselves with Belfast City Council to host this event? Surely MTV and MTV Europe don’t want their good name tarnished by working so closely with those who believe animal cruelty is right? Shame on MTV.

Lennox’s Owner Speaks To Dublin City Radio 103.2fm

7th March 2011, On the 3rd March Karishmeh Felfeli interviewed Lennox’s owner on Offbeat Radio broadcasting from Dublin City Radio 103.2fm. This is a follow up broadcast from the one hour special show dedicated to Lennox and broadcasted in November 2010. Click on the link title above to listen to the latest interview.

eBay Auction To Raise Additional Funding

2nd February 2011, On Sunday 6th February 2011 The Save Lennox Campaign will be holding an eBay auction to raise additional funding for Lennox’s behaviourist. The item for auction will be Brooke’s original artwork entitled ‘Brooke’s Plea’. As many of you will know by now ‘Brooke’s Plea’ has been published in many newspapers, magazines and featured on many forums and websites around the globe. To view the live auction simply click this articles title above.

Mick Clark Writes About Lennox & BSL

19th January 2011, Read the supporter submitted blog about Lennox and BSL written by Mick Clark at the Save Lennox Campaign Blog.

Lennox February Court Date Moved To Late March

19th January 2011, The February court date has been moved to March 29th at 10.30am Belfast Laganside Courts. You can use the link by clicking this articles title above to check the court schedule 7 days prior to court hearing.

Save Lennox Campaign Back With New Facebook Page

8th December 2010, Despite the best efforts of a certain Northern Ireland body to have the Save Lennox Campaign silenced by reporting and removing the campaign Facebook page the Save Lennox Campaign are back with a brand new Facebook page and new URL. To visit the new Facebook Fan page click the Facebook link above, then the Facebook logo. Obviously these attempts by that particular group prove they are afraid of the Save Lennox Campaign and will yet again stoop lower than low, try every dirty tactic and trick to silence the truth of their errors and mistakes getting out to the public. Note to BCC: You can’t keep a good dog down, we won’t be silenced!

Sammy Wilson MP Speaks Out In Support Of Lennox In Belfast Newsletter

20th November 2010, Sammy Wilson MP and MLA today spoke out against Belfast City Council in his Belfast Newsletter article asking “Is this the way to make statistics look impressive?”

The Daily Mirror Newspaper Publish Heartbreaking Story Of Little Girl’s Hurt

19th November 2010, The Mirror Newspaper was granted exclusive permission to spend time with Lennox’s owner, a little girl hurting in more ways than one due to Belfast City Council’s evil and heartless actions.

Belfast Telegraph Newspaper Publish Third Lennox Article

17th November 2010, The Belfast Telegraph Newspaper publish a third article about Lennox and ask why Belfast City Council use him as an easy target.

Belfast Telegraph Newspaper Publish Second Lennox Article

15th November 2010, The Belfast Telegraph Newspaper yet again publish a second article about Lennox and his fight for life.

Dublin’s Offbeat Radio 103.2FM Broadcasting Dedicated Lennox Show

9th November 2010, Offbeat Radio 103.2FM broadcasting from Dublin will be dedicating a one hour special show to the Save Lennox Campaign this coming Saturday 13th Nov from 9PM. Offbeat Radio hosted by Karishmeh Felfeli will broadcast Lennox’s story and also hopes to raise further awareness of BSL. Tune in to Offbeat 103.2FM this Saturday from 9PM to show your support.

Politics NI Website Exclusively Reveal Lennox Related Seizure Documents

20th October 2010, PoliticsNI website has exclusively revealed the Lennox related documents that Belfast City Council don’t want the public to see. The website has published the incorrect addressed warrant of seizure, the cease and desist order from the American Dog Breeders Association (ADBA) issued to Belfast City Council for their illegal and unauthorised use of the ADBA breed standards guide used to seize Lennox and still used by Council Dog Wardens to seize family dogs across Belfast, a standard response from Belfast City Council and the very latest picture of Lennox being kept in an inhumane concrete prison without any signs of water being supplied, toys or proper bedding. Shocking display of how Belfast City Council Dog Wardens claim to practice humane animal welfare as boasted on the Council’s website.

Belfast City Council Facebook Page Receives Thousands Of Messages In Support Of Lennox

20th October 2010, Hundreds of thousands of Lennox supporters and campaigners from across the globe came out in force and posted messages of support for Lennox on Belfast City Councils Facebook page today. The Belfast City Council Facebook page clearly states that the Council welcome the public’s comments however every single message related to Lennox has now been deleted. Obviously the Council aren’t strong believers in freedom of speech and clearly demonstrated this by deleting all Lennox related comments from the Council’s Facebook page.

Dog Cast Radio Give Support To The Save Lennox Campaign

20th October 2010, Dog Cast Radio an online website and twice monthly dog related podcast have shown support for Lennox by posting Lennox’s story on the Dog Cast Radio website with future plans to cover Lennox’s story on an upcoming Dog Cast Radio podcast. Dog Cast Radio podcasts can be subscribed to and downloaded from iTunes in various formats.

Total Oblivion Radio Give Support To The Save Lennox Campaign

18th October 2010, Total Oblivion Radio an online radio station today gave support to the Save Lennox Campaign by raising awareness of BSL and Lennox’s plight. The station dedicated a two hour slot broadcasting to thousands of listeners across the globe helping raise awareness of Lennox and all victims of BSL and have also published Lennox links to their website.

First Lennox Court Hearing Set For 23rd November 2010

29th September 2010, After many months of waiting and date changes Lennox’s case will now be heard at Laganside Courts on 23rd Novemeber 2010. Hopefully Belfast Courts will see sense and release Lennox who was illegally seized by Belfast City Council back to his family.

Belfast City Council Dog Wardens Use Incorrect Warrant Of Seizure – Major Blunder Again By Belfast City Council Dog Wardens!

8th September 2010, On the day Belfast City Council seized innocent Lennox they produced a warrant of seizure, the warrant Belfast City Council Dog Wardens produced was not only the wrong type of warrant for a seizure but also for another address at another part of Belfast. In actual fact Belfast City Council removed Lennox illegally… They stole him! Instead of admitting they have made yet another major blunder in this case and returning Lennox to his home Belfast City Council have instead decided to throw vast amounts of cash at this case by flying so called dog breed experts from mainland UK in with an aid to secure a death sentence for Lennox and hopefully by winning their case Belfast City Council Dog Wardens department can cover up the major continuous errors and lies they have made and told regarding Lennox’s case.

Next Lennox Court Hearing 21st September 2010

7th September 2010, While poor Lennox remains locked up in unsuitable undisclosed conditions with unsuitable kennel staff and without proper human stimulation Belfast City Council again need further time to get their stories straight and so have asked for a court date extension. Lennox’s next hearing has been set for the 21st September.

The Sunday Life Newspaper Run Lennox Story

22nd August 2010, The Sunday Life Newspaper has today published the story of Lennox and how he was wrongfully seized by evil Belfast City Council Dog Wardens and remains at undisclosed kennels.

Light Your Own Lennox Candle Of Hope

13th August 2010, The kind supporters at Bruces Rescue Group have setup a “Light A Candle” page in support of Lennox, now all Lennox’s global supporters can light a candle and leave a message.

New Save Lennox Campaign Video Request

11th August 2010, The Save Lennox Campaign is growing bigger and stronger each and everyday and in doing so the Friends and Supporters around the globe are not only spreading the word about Lennox but also helping to raise awareness of many other BSL victims around the world, it is for this reason we ask all of the Save Lennox Campaign Supporters to help take this campaign to another level. We are currently working on a new campaign video and would like to feature as many as possible of Lennox’s Friends and Supporters from around the world in the new campaign video. If you would like to be featured then here is what we are asking: We would be very grateful if everyone could send a picture. In the picture we would like everyone to clearly show the three words; “This Is Wrong!” The three words can be followed by your location or a personal message if you wish. This is everyone’s chance to get creative, you can display the words in your picture made up from dog food cans, pasta, sand, paint or people standing in a group to form the words, it really doesn’t matter, all we ask is that you enjoy yourselves doing so, realise this is not just for Lennox but all victims of BSL, and that you are as creative as possible, although a simple written or painted message on a length of paper is fine. You can have as many people or pets in the picture as you wish, the more involved, the better. We have setup a special email address for everyone to send their pictures to which is at the end of this message. Again thank you to everyone, everywhere for what you all have done so far and continue to do to help us Save Lennox and raise awareness of the evil law known as BSL. Send your pictures to: pictures@savelennox.co.uk

First Court Hearing Regarding Lennox

10th August 2010, Today was the first hearing regarding Lennox at Belfast Courts. Nothing really happened to report about as this hearing was only to set a date for the main hearing. Took about an hour for the second Court hearing date to be set for 7th September 2010. Whilst at court we had a chance to read over the statements made by the Belfast City Council staff who seized Lennox from his loving home and to be honest we never read one truthful word in any of the four statements that we seen, we really did not think Belfast City Council would stoup so damn low to secure a death sentence on a poor little girls innocent pet.

Muttamorphosis Dog Blog Article About Lennox

7th July 2010, Sue McCabe, dog trainer and founder of Muttamorphosis publishes a beautiful article about Lennox’s story on her online Dog Blog.

New Save Lennox Campaign Video Request

6th July 2010, We are currently working on a new campaign video and would like to feature as many as possible of Lennox’s Friends and Supporters from around the world in the new campaign video. If you would like to be featured then please click on the title link for more information.

K9 Magazine Run Lennox Story

3rd July 2010, K9 Magazine today published a very moving and beautiful article written by Maria Daines to raise awareness of Lennox’s fight for life and the continuing failures of BSL around the globe.

Maria Daines Releases Dedicated Lennox Song

1st July 2010, International, multi award winning singer and songwriter Maria Daines and Husband Paul Killington have written, produced and released a song especially for Lennox. Our sincere thanks to both of them for this beautiful song; we are honoured for this gift. Please click the title link above to download the Lennox song.

Save Lennox Campaign Flyer Available For Download

29th June 2010, Supporters and followers can now download the Save Lennox Campaign flyer and help spread the word about Lennox and all victims of BSL legislation. Click on the article title above.

Free Save Lennox Campaign iPhone Wallpapers

28th June 2010, Registered forum members can now download one of three free iPhone wallpapers to proudly display on their iPhone to help spread the word and show support for the Save Lennox Campaign.

Maria Daines Releases New CD In Aid Of Bull Breed Rescue

28th June 2010, International, multi award winning singer and songwriter Maria Daines has released a new CD album in aid of raising funds for Bull Breed Rescue and to raise awareness of issues affecting bull breed dogs within UK.

The Belfast Telegraph Newspaper Run Lennox Story

25th June 2010, The Belfast Telegraph Newspaper has today published the story of Lennox and how he was wrongfully seized by evil Belfast City Council Dog Wardens and remains at undisclosed kennels.

Local MP Nigel Dodds Backing Lennox Fight For Life

25th June 2010, North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds stated today in Belfast Telegraph interview that he is “Appalled” by Belfast City Council Dog Warden seizure of Lennox and calls for a review of Council policy.

Maria Daines Gives Her Support

24th June 2010, International, multi award winning singer and songwriter Maria Daines and her Husband Paul show support for Save Lennox Campaign and posts new Save Lennox Campaign video to the Maria Daines official website.

New YouTube Save Lennox Campaign Channel Launched

24th June 2010, Today saw the launch of the Save Lennox Campaign Channel on YouTube. The channel aims to bring the story of Lennox and many other BSL victims stories to the publics attention. Click the blue title link above to view channel and please subscribe.

NARA Petition Table At Belfast City Hall Sat 26th June 1pm

24th June 2010, NARA (The National Animal Rights Association) Have kindly offered support for the Save Lennox Campaign and will be managing an information and petition signing table at Belfast City Hall from 1pm Saturday 26th June. Stop by, sign the petition and help end BSL.

Over the last few months I have watched the case of Lennox, a dog seized for having the “wrong” looks, as it has unfolded in Belfast, Ireland.  Lennox was seized, not for behavior, but because he has a particular physical structure.  He looks like what Ireland terms a ‘restricted breed’.  He is neutered, has obedience training, is properly vaccinated and was legally licensed-yet he was summarily seized and has been condemned to die.  As I have watched Lennox’s case, and his impending death sentence, several things have sparked my attention. Not only does the issue of destroying this animal solely based on his looks appall me, but I am particularly concerned by the “evaluations” of Lennox that the Council and Court are depending on to make a determination of his level of threat to society.

To begin, Lennox has been held for over a year in a shelter facility.  He has been deprived of his normal social contacts-his family, has had limited exercise and interaction outside his kennel, and has even been medicated with amitriptyline.

Two dog behaviorists have evaluated the dog to date.  I understand both have weighed in that Lennox is not a dangerous dog.  The videos and evaluations have shown Lennox to have substantial control of his behavior, that he is a sociable and pleasant animal despite his long isolation and confinement away from his home, and that he showed clear restraint when one evaluator pushed him into a trapped area in a threatening manner.  At that crisis point Lennox did the only thing that makes sense to a dog; he lunged, with no contact, in order to communicate clearly that he was frightened and felt threatened when he had no where else to retreat.  He did the equivalent to a human raising their voice when other means of communication fail.

This speaks volumes for this individual dog.  Despite everything that has happened to him he still shows restraint in his behavior and a desire for human social contact.  He still displays clear bite inhibition.  He still responds appropriately to social cues.  This is also despite the conduct of these evaluations in a restricted shelter environment.

The third evaluation was conducted by a police dog handler.  As a retired police Lieutenant I have known a number of canine handlers-and the trainers that prepare the dogs before police get them.  I have participated in the testing and evaluation of police dogs before their training.  And I can say this-police canine handlers and trainers are special, valued and talented persons-but they are not behaviorists.

A police dog is a special animal.  Only about ten percent of the candidates are chosen.  They need terrific drive, huge levels of trainability, and a great desire to work in tandem with a human handler.  They must be brave enough to go in where no person or animal reasonably should, yet must be able to instantly disengage when ordered to, despite inertia and provocation.  They must not be aggressive, as anger would interfere with the ability to disengage at need.  They must also be able to use nearly human levels of discrimination to understand when they must self-deploy to protect their handler, yet must recognize the difference between a violent suspect and the approach of an innocent child.  We ask so much of them-and they give it all willingly, sometimes to the death.

Police dog handlers and trainers must be highly skilled to get this level or performance.  But that skill is limited to the task at hand.  Police handlers do not address behavior problems of other animals-they are focused on the training, maintenance and development of their special charges.  These handlers conduct obedience work with their dogs as part of the control mechanism, but do not diagnose or treat problems that range from house training to nuisance barking.  They do not treat, or particularly evaluate, aggression issues.  If a dog exhibits aggression in training it is eliminated as unsuitable.  An aggressive or “mean” dog is a risk to the Department, the handler, and the public.

Even Animal Control Officers may be deficient when evaluating what is a “dangerous” dog.  They encounter animals that are often not at their best, often threatened or injured, and frankly do not get the behavioral training necessary to make the decision between treatment of repairable behavior and that which is clearly dangerous.  They can say whether a dog’s behavior, in a specific incident, meets the legal definition of “dangerous” in their jurisdiction, but often fall far short of being able to diagnose whether this was truly dangerous aggression or was a storm brought about by a collection of predictable, reasonable animal behavior and human failing.  In the case of Lennox the dog warden’s job was in some ways too easy; did Lennox look like one of the “usual suspects”?  He did, so the case was closed, even though Lennox never had a chance to speak.

Assessing dog aggression, and evaluating whether a dog is “dangerous”, even when presented with clear criteria (which do not exist in this case) is a job best left to those familiar with more than just whether a dog is physically able to bite.  Any dog can bite-they have teeth.  A competent evaluator must understand the psychological issues behind the multiple behaviors we lump together as aggression.  Is the dog territorial?  Is the dog a resource guarder? Is the dog fearful? Can the dog adapt to novel and potentially scary situation while maintaining an acceptable level of composure? Is the dog responsive to human signals, and is the dog able to signal its own intentions clearly?  Does the dog have the inter-species social skills needed to peacefully coexist in a multi-species social environment?  Those are the questions that need to be asked before determining if a dog’s behavior is “dangerous”.

Having a police dog handler evaluate Lennox for his suitability as a patrol or detection dog would be appropriate; it would be having a skilled technician and trainer choosing whether Lennox would make the cut as a working dog.  We would not ask the police trainer to evaluated Fire Department equipment, even though he might like the red suspenders.  To have the police handler evaluating Lennox as a behaviorist is a disservice to the dog-and the handler.

And the worst part of this?  The case is no longer about Lennox.  It is about rules, it is about discrimination, and finally about egos.  Problem is, the bruised egos will heal-but when Lennox is dead, he is dead.

Jim Crosby

Article Courtesy Victoria Stilwell’s Positively

It’s well known that American Bulldogs are not on any illegal banned breed list in the United Kingdom or Northern Ireland so why is it then that Belfast City Council are re-writing the governments own banned breed list and have at some point in the last five years unknown to the public added the American Bulldog? After studying Belfast City Councils now updated website it is somewhat impossible to find this very list that included the American Bulldog.

Is it fair then to maybe suggest for a moment that Belfast City Council are so unorganised and so out of sync with each department that it’s possible that one department can claim one type of breed whilst another states an illegal banned breed? if so then as taxpaying citizens shouldn’t we all then be asking Belfast City Council, our councillors and MP’s in this time of global financial decline why and how has these mistakes gone on for so long, why is so many thousands of pounds being pushed into a lengthy court case to murder a little girls innocent pet dog and what other waste of money don’t the public know about at present that has come about due to badly managed council departments? Some people might also ask the other obvious question that many have already asked before; can a council be so corrupt that they would be greedy enough to accept payment every year for a dog licence for a dog that is in their so called care which they are fighting to murder? because you surely wouldn’t ask for payment for a dog that’s of an illegal breed now would you?

Now on the other hand would it not also be fair to state that Belfast City Council have tripped themselves up and know they have made a huge mess of this case by seeking the death of an innocent pet dog even though they have always issued and continue to issue a dog licence knowing fine well his breed is American Bulldog as stated on all of their issued dog licences. Is it maybe an attempt to save face and desperately win a little bit of public support that they have suddenly changed from his breed type to now being about his behaviour? Did Belfast City Council at any point think no-one had realised they had dropped their original reason for their court case from being about breed type to now being about behaviour?

No matter the reason or explanation that Belfast City Council attempt to portray to the public it doesn’t change the fact that they have for the last six years taken payment and issued a dog licence for what they claim is an illegal breed, if this is the case then it proves Belfast City Council have themselves been breaking the law by licensing an illegal breed dog and have no doubt broken some other law by fraudulently accepting payment for such dog. If Belfast City Council then deny such law breaking then they must accept that Lennox is indeed not an illegal breed nor has he been a danger to the public and they should immediately release him to his family as the breed of dog that for the past six years they have so willing taken payment and issued a licence for which is an American Bulldog cross.

As you can also see by visiting the link below this is not the first time a City Council have raised eyebrows over their use and spending of the tax payers money.

Revealed: How Council Wasted Money

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Lennox Christmas Poem Courtesy Of Tracie Brannen

December Poem For Lennox Courtesy Of Maria Daines

Lennox, A BSL Dog’s Tale Courtesy Of Ange Manners

Lennox Poem Courtesy Of Maria Fawcett

Once again Christmas and a new year is upon us, a time of year when Family gather together to laugh, to enjoy each other’s company, to give thanks to our creator, a time to reflect on the years highs and lows and a time to cherish those you love dearly, however for one Family and a little girl in particular once again another Christmas will come and again pass without the company of one much loved Family member. This Christmas the Save Lennox Campaign, DDA Watch and campaigners from around the globe ask everyone to help spread the word of Lennox and many others like him who spend another Christmas locked up, segregated from other dogs, locked away from what they know without visitation from Family and held in tiny cramped conditions awaiting a death penalty for no crime.

We kindly ask everyone who has followed Lennox’s plight to stop for a moment over the Christmas period and consider what it would be like for you or someone you know to have their best Friend ripped away from them, to never get a chance to say goodbye, to never get a chance to wrap your arms around those you love one last time or to look longingly into their eyes and tell them how much you love them, to have the play time and fun times halted then consider being a little eleven year old child with your own health complications and imagine how you would feel, how you would cope if your companion, your best Friend was suddenly taken from you without warning, without reason because in May 2010 this is exactly what happened to Brooke and now almost two years later Lennox and Brooke have still not been reunited, not seen each other and have had all visitation requests denied by Belfast City Council and the council dog control manager. Lennox is still in the so called care of Belfast City Council and will remain there until his slow painful death by lethal injection unless we all take a stand now. Everyone has a role to play before it’s your dog or another breed of dog that’s singled out in a witch hunt simply for looking a certain way or because they measure up to a pathetic scale of measurements illegally used by those who pimp themselves out to government bodies and councils, who have little or no training or knowledge of dog behaviour or their mental well being or characteristics, who take ridiculously vast amounts of tax payers money as a fee and stand before a court acting on behalf of prosecution simply to point the finger and condemn an innocent loved Family pet to death because it’s an easy lucrative earner.

Don’t be that person who tells themselves “why bother I can’t make a difference because there is already so many hundreds of thousands already speaking out against such injustices,” don’t be that person who feels that your voice can’t be heard because already hundreds of thousands are shouting, be that person who shouts louder, protests harder and help stop this insane cruelty, if we all shout louder, protest longer then they will have to hear us, they will have to listen and they will have to act.

Over the Christmas and New Year holidays we ask that you please take a few moments out of your own Family time, pause for a minute, close your eyes and put yourself in the shoes of a little girl who wants only one wish granted this Christmas, reflect for a moment, breathe deeply, know you can make a difference, exhale then take the first step in standing with us. Here’s how you can help Lennox, Brooke and many other victims of BSL.

Change your Twitter and Facebook profile pictures to the Save Lennox logo for the length of the holiday period and then send a Tweet, Facebook message or email to someone who may not have heard about Lennox or the many others like him who have fallen victim to the evil draconian law known as Breed Specific Legislation. You have now taken a stand against BSL. Feels good knowing your now part of something that’s growing globally, something that can’t and won’t be stopped, knowing you have done your bit? You’ve been intrigued, your now curious otherwise you wouldn’t still be here or have read this far nor would you be on this website at all, you have come so far and done so much already so why stop now?

If you feel strongly enough about this and feel that Lennox and others like him have suffered long enough and you feel good about the first few steps you’ve just taken then continue to campaign with us, don’t give up now! Here’s more that you can do. On Facebook edit your name to include the words “SaveLennox” or “EndBSL” either between your first name and surname or at the end of your full name, you may have already noticed on Facebook that many people have already kindly shown their support and done this. Post a message into forums, online chat groups, websites and other social networking sites with an aim to spread the word about Lennox and other BSL victims. Contact your local MP, send a gift to your local animal shelter or rescue group with a message attached about Lennox or label it from Lennox End BSL, send Belfast City Council a Christmas card calling for Lennox’s freedom, contact your local newspaper and inform them about Lennox, download and print off the Save Lennox Campaign flyer from this website and paste it to a window, a car window, local shop window advertising board, hand it out at an event, pass it out to Friends, Family or a neighbour. Take time to various websites and educate yourself regarding responsible dog ownership and BSL then help educate others who may not have heard about Lennox or BSL, take time to highlight and explain how innocent dogs are being cruelly taken from their loving Family homes each and every day of the year by councils, Police and other government departments and held for many years in confined concrete cells before being sentenced to death for no reason other than how they look.

Please send your Lennox Christmas card messages of support to:

Belfast City Council,
Chief Executive’s Department,
City Hall,
Belfast,
BT1 5GS.

By participating in this campaign you have now become one of Lennox’s Army who fight not only for Lennox but many other innocent loved pets taken from their Family, you join many celebrities and Hollywood stars who have also spoken out for Lennox calling for his immediate release from Belfast City Council kennels, you stand with many others globally who campaign each and every day for the abolishment of BSL and for stricter penalties for those who treat animals cruelly. This Christmas please also spare a thought for the many little souls who have already been sent to rainbow bridge due to Breed Specific Legislation.

To launch the Save Lennox Christmas Campaign animal rights campaigner and multi award winning singer/songwriter Maria Daines and music creating genius Paul Killington who wrote and performed the now famous “Lennox” song have again kindly written and performed their own version of a much loved seasonal cheer song dedicated to Lennox. The song titled “Jingle Bells For Lennox” again helps highlight the urgent need for a rethink concerning BSL and the actions taken by Belfast City Council during their wrongful seizure of Lennox from his loving Family home. The song can be previewed below using the mini player and can also be downloaded free of charge. Finally, thank you to all Lennox Friends, Supporters and Campaigners across the globe, you know who you all are! Have a very Merry Christmas & a BSL free New Year!

www.savelennoxpetition.co.uk

Poem with thanks to Ange Manners.

Christmas Poem For Lennox & Family Courtesy Of Tracie Brannen
Artwork By Janice Tyrrell

It has been brought to my attention that a small clip of my assessment of Lennox has been put on the internet.  This clip has been taken completely out of context and whilst I have remained relatively quiet on this case since I spoke in court, I feel that I am now forced to make a statement to clarify what actually happened during the time I was with Lennox.

Wrongly or rightly many documents and details about this case have been passed onto different parties. I do not feel it is appropriate for me at this moment to discuss in detail everything that has been said to me, nor to put forward my own ideas regarding all the statements made, as everyone is entitled to their own opinion and beliefs.  What I am qualified to do however is to discuss behaviour. My assessments, statements and videos of those assessments have been accepted in other court cases at Magistrates, County and Crown Courts here in the UK so the field of assessment in cases such as this is not unknown to me.

I do not care if I am to be criticized by members of the public or even other professional bodies as I have a wealth of experience handling and working with many breeds of dogs, large and small and I also work with horses with behavioural issues so do not need to defend the claims that I have little or no experience of working with powerful animals such as Pit Bull Types. I would however like to clarify that a Pit Bull Type is often a mix of dogs.  Nothing extraordinary happens to the psyche of a dog when it conforms to certain measurements.

I do care however that Lennox is being portrayed in a poor light through this video clip as my experience of handling Lennox was thoroughly enjoyable and I now feel the need to explain in greater detail the truth, as I see it, about my assessment.  I know that Victoria Stilwell has been what I would consider to be a sane voice amidst the madness that surrounds this case and she has seen full video footage of the assessments carried out by myself and David Ryan plus other documentation.

When the door to the van was first opened Lennox barked.  He barked at me three times when I approached.  As I said in my report this is not uncommon behaviour in any dog that is in a confined situation in a crate, kennel or in a car.  He was also shaking like a leaf but this does not come over in the video that my assistant took of this assessment.  He was clearly frightened as he could not have known what was going to happen to him and again this is not an uncommon behaviour in the dogs that come to me for help. No one has ever disputed that Lennox can be anxious around some strangers but I believe the key word some has sadly been overlooked.

I asked for someone that Lennox knew to take him out of the crate to keep his stress levels low. Entry and exit points can be a source of conflict for any dog. I was told I had to handle Lennox on my own for the entire assessment and that he had bitten the last person that came to see him.  This is the clip that has been released.  Had I had any concerns for my safety or those around me given that I was to be fully and wholly responsible for a dog that I do not know and that I had been told has bitten, I would not have continued with the assessment if I believed that dog to be a danger either to myself or those who were standing in the car park. Lennox gave me a lot of information about his temperament whilst in the crate.  In court however, and therefore under oath, Ms Lightfoot the Dog Warden stated that in fact Lennox had not bitten anyone so I have to assume on the evidence placed before the court that the statement made to me at the start of my assessment was untrue.  Given the publicity surrounding this case I am also confident that had Lennox actually bitten anyone whilst in the care of his family as has been suggested someone would have come forward by now.

I spent approx 15 minutes with Lennox prior to being taken from the crate, working with a clicker and some treats to see if, even in the environment that was causing him some anxiety, he could still learn and take direction from a stranger. He could. His eyes were soft and he was friendly. At this point I would also like to clarify the meaning of the word friendly.  It does not mean confident.  Was Lennox anxious? Yes.  Hostile?  No.

I believe that Lennox would have been totally at ease had I indeed taken him out myself but I also believe I have a duty of care to reduce stress where possible when handling any animal in a situation that is causing them distress.  No doubt this statement will also be taken out of context by those who wish to discredit me and to discredit my belief that Lennox is not a danger to the public based on my experience with him and also based on the video assessment carried out by David Ryan which I have also seen.

I use food in an assessment to monitor the dogs stress levels and emotions at all times. It is not a bribe. A habitually aggressive dog will generally seek out conflict in my experience but even these dogs can often be rehabilitated. No amount of food can disguise this behaviour and giving food to a dog with aggression issues can be extremely dangerous. The dog may be lured to a person by the promise of food but once it has taken the food it may panic as the offering of the food has now brought that dog into close proximity with the threat i.e. a stranger. I have worked with dogs with aggression issues and whilst some may well take the food, the person delivering the food may not be able to move once the food has gone as the movement of the person, even the smallest movement of their arm, may trigger the dog to lunge and bite. I would not hand feed a dog that I deem to be aggressive. The delivery of the treat must come from the person that the dog knows and trusts – not the stranger. The dog can learn to approach a threat and then turn back to the person that the dog trusts for the reward if the approach to the person is appropriate.  I use food throughout an assessment to monitor what is happening with the dog on an emotional and physical level not to make him my best friend.

Lennox was so gentle with the taking of the food both in the crate and also later in the car park.  He was also appropriate in his behaviour with the games we played. He was also gentle when he jumped up at me to see if he was allowed the food that I was withholding in my hand. When he realised it wasn’t forthcoming he politely backed off. This would suggest to me that he has been around a family. Not chained up in a yard as has also been claimed by people who do not know the family or the dog.

Lennox showed excellent impulse control at all times and at no point did he grab me or my own clothing which many dogs do when getting excited by a game.  I have worked with some truly challenging dogs and some will become increasingly aroused by lead ragging or games with toys and start seriously mouthing or biting the handlers arms or clothing. This can quickly flip over to more overt aggression and these dogs can be dangerous particularly if they are being handled by just one person.  It is imperative that dogs with this behaviour are taught a more appropriate way of interacting with people and responding to the leash and also greater self control. There are many ways to help dogs that have been encouraged, through mishandling and misunderstanding, to behave in such a manner.  Kicking and beating them is certainly not the answer.

Lennox does rag on the lead but it is very self controlled. He did not exhibit any of the behaviours that I have mentioned above. Regardless of what some uneducated people may wish to think, it is possible to glean a lot of information about a dog through games and food as many behaviour counsellors and trainers will confirm.

I wrote a fifteen page report on my experience with Lennox and my thoughts about the David Ryan assessment. In this report I state that I have concerns about the appearance of Lennox’s neck. In the video I explain this too.  His ears are unlevel and there was a change in the lay of his coat over the Atlas in line with the nuchal ligament that is present between T1 and C2 vertebrae.  Coat changes often occur in dogs, cats and horses that have suffered injury or those that are unwell. I have studied this over seventeen years of handling many animals. In all cases where I referred an animal back to a vet, whether it was in the care of a shelter, owned by my private clients or students that I teach changes to the soft tissue or skeleton were noted on further detailed investigation.  When I see this around the neck in a dog I know that it is likely to give the dog cause for concern when someone unknown to that dog attempts to handle the collar or put on or take off a lead.  Coat changes may well be present where deep bruising has also occurred. Pain and pain memory is a key factor in many behavioural problems.

Lennox was quite rightly put on Amitriptyline. I do not believe that the Council have failed in their duty to care for Lennox when it comes to the stress that he has been under and I understand that this drug is used to treat anxiety and depression.  It was with interest, though, that I discovered that this drug is also used to treat chronic pain in dogs. Again this was mentioned in my written report.  This may explain in part why my experience with Lennox seems to fly in the face of other evidence presented before the courts. He was not on Amitriptyline when he was assessed by David Ryan.

I would absolutely move on to touch an animal all over its body in any assessment that I do.  I may or may not choose to muzzle a dog that is unknown to me to do this if I have concerns about the body language that I have seen prior to this part of my assessment.  I elected not to stroke Lennox all over because of my concerns about his neck, the newly forming scabs that were present on his flanks and the blood that was present around the nail beds around his right hind foot. This decision was made based on the physical evidence before me not because I felt I would be in danger.  I talked about this in court which was open to the public and at the end of my assessment which is also on film I explained this to a representative from the BCC Dog Warden team and asked if there was anything else that she would like me to do with Lennox.  She said no.

I cannot comment on what happened when Lennox was seized or measured by Peter Tallack because I wasn’t there. I can explain behaviour though and any frightened animal can be intimidating. I have recently been in Romania working with traumatised horses and two stallions had not been mucked out for months as the staff (men) were too scared to go in with them. They called them ‘pitbulls’ such is the misguided impression of this type of dog.  Hay had been simply thrown over the stable doors and their water buckets were hanging crushed against the stable wall.  I went in with them, not because I have any desire to be a hero, but because I can read an animal well and within minutes they were quiet, standing at the end of their stables albeit it pressed up against the walls. I was calm with them and we took out all the filthy bedding and fetched new water buckets for them too. They didn’t attack anyone. They were simply terrified and they were not provoked. I spent time with one of them on my own, hand feeding him and was finally able to touch his face. This process probably took less than half an hour. I was totally absorbed in what I was doing and when I turned to walk out I realised that one of the Romanian men had been watching me. He raised his eyebrows, gave me the thumbs up and walked away. Other people could then go in with this magnificent horse too and hand feed him the fresh sweet grass that we had picked from the surrounding fields so it isn’t simply that I am quiet in my handling of animals nor possess some extraordinary skill that can make even the most savage lion behave like a lamb when in my company.

I can perhaps, help an animal that is struggling, gain trust in human beings as many people can.  I can perhaps work with a difficult animal and make it look as though that animal is calm but all the time I am reading that animal. Every second of the way. I am looking at the eyes if it is safe to do so, I am watching the respiration, I am studying the movement, the set of the ears and the tail and so on and my opinions about an animal are based on many years of working in this way.  One case that will always stand out in my mind was a large member of the Bull Breed family.  I believe she was two years old.  I won’t go into the details here but I will say that when I worked with her she appeared to be very good to the member of kennel staff that was watching.  At the end of my assessment the member of staff asked me what I thought.  I sadly had to say that I thought the dog should be put to sleep. The member of staff was horrified and I remember her saying ‘but she’s been so good with you’.  But I had noticed some worrying signs.  The shelter ignored my advice and rehomed the dog who savaged the new owner so badly the owner ended up in the ICU. Of course the dog was immediately destroyed.

I knew what I was walking into when I agreed to go and assess Lennox for the family.  To have to defend Lennox outside of the court has, however, come as a surprise.  I have made this statement to shed a little more light on what is a distressing case for all those involved,  knowing full well that I will no doubt be subject to further scrutiny and criticism. So be it. I am not afraid. If nothing else this case has highlighted some important issues about the fears and prejudice concerning dogs, their breed types and their behaviour. Certainly it highlights the sad truth as Xenephon said so wisely in 400 BC. Where knowledge ends, violence begins.

The Save Lennox Campaign © 2011 – 2012 Sarah Fisher

Many Lennox supporters and campaigners around the world have organised an event named ’1 Million Lights On For Lennox’ The event has already seen many candle light vigils being held around the world in many countries and many cities to honour Lennox and call for his immediate release from cruel captivity.

Belfast City Council recently won the right to have Lennox murdered by lethal injection, euthanized is a term Belfast City Council would prefer to use but here we will not. Euthanize is a term reserved for ‘mercy killing’ usually carried out on animals who are suffering from an illness that causes that animal to suffer, the only illness Lennox is currently suffering is separation from his Family. Euthanize is not a term applicable to what Belfast City Council and their contracted Vet will be carrying out on Lennox, put simply, Belfast City Council and the Vet will inject Lennox and put frankly, murder an innocent Family pet.

Join the worldwide event, visit the event Facebook page here.

In my official report I stated:  ‘Lennox showed a number of deference behaviours including turning his head away, licking his lips, turning his body and walking away, in response to David Ryan’s attempts to frustrate him. This is an impressive trait in any dog and shows a dog using submissive behaviour rather than offensive behaviour to cope in what is a relatively stressful situation.’

At one point Lennox lunged at David Ryan, the piece of video that has been released in a sad attempt, by those against Lennox and the campaign to free him, to show what a dangerous dog he is.  This has in actual fact back-fired, because now it gives me no choice but to comment, as an expert with fifteen years experience of canine behavior and ten years of working with all breeds including pit bull types in the United States, on that particular reaction, that I included in my statement to the courts.

My report continued:  ‘If a dog, that would rather practice avoidance and take himself away from threat, is unable to do so and the threat comes closer and does not allow the dog any chance to escape, the dog has no other choice but to respond defensively. Lennox reacted defensively when David Ryan approached him and Lennox was stuck between two chairs and the wall with nowhere to go to. He tried to get away but when this failed he lunged defensively at David Ryan. Even though this was a defensive gesture, Lennox still showed incredible impulse control and bite inhibition.  A dog is faster than the fastest Olympic athlete when it comes to response time. If Lennox intended to harm David Ryan he could have easily bitten him while he lunged, before Mr. Ryan had time to react, but Lennox chose to warn him (a complete stranger) out of his space instead, rather than inflict harm, and this was impressive to see…… Lennox showed impressive restraint and lunged at David Ryan with the intent to warn him to go away from him, without harming him.

You see, this is essentially what people do not understand. Behind every growl, snap, lunge etc is a dog signalling its intent. The intent is to warn someone or something out of its space. Aggression serves an important function, to increase distance, to get the threat to move away. Some dogs, especially those that have been dominated, suppressed or abused by a human, learn by that mishandling to not give these warning signals and suppress these signals, going straight to bite. These dogs are made dangerous because of what humans teach them in their attempt to curb unwanted behavior. The dogs that warn instead of going to bite are less dangerous because they are signaling their intent first. If this warning is not heeded, they will lunge or try another way of getting that someone to move away from them, still without intent to harm. This is what Lennox had no choice but to do. Believe me, he could have inflicted a lot of harm on David if he was truly the dangerous dog that some people believe he is and instead Lennox chose not to bite, maul, attack or inflict damage in any way, shape or form. He lunged and barked at David instead. When that was done, Lennox continued to show many appeasement and pacification signals as well as signaling his stress, such as lip licking and turning his head and body away.

I also witnessed Sarah Fisher’s assessment on Lennox and, again, most of her assessment won’t be shown because the world would then see how impressive Lennox was with yet another complete stranger handling him.  At one point Lennox started playing with the leash, something that many bored dogs do, regardless of breed.  At no point did he threaten Sarah, try to bite her or become aggressively aroused when she pulled the leash away from him and he  released the leash when he was asked to.  The  prosecution’s ‘expert’, Peter Tallack, a police dog handler, was apparently dismissive of the majority of Fisher’s report, saying that she did not ‘challenge’ the dog enough and was more focused on building a rapport with the dog.  In his ruling, the judge in this case showed yet another flaw in the execution of BSL, in that he clearly is not aware of the basics of dog behavior and basically decided to believe that Tallack’s confrontational approach rather than Fisher’s experienced and scientificially-based methodology was more influential in his decision-making.

The judge basically had a choice to make:  do I believe the police dog handler, or a learned and internationally respected dog behaviorist with extensive experience regarding dog aggression. He apparently fixated on the fact that due to Britain’s BSL laws, she had little experience working with actual pit bull type dogs, finding that to be a major flaw in her credibility and authority. Yet again, this shows an ignorance at the heart of the problems with BSL:  to conduct a behavioral assessment of a pit bull type dog does not require any special training or experience other than what would be required for any other breed of dog. Yes, they are a strong breed, but I have no doubt that Fisher has worked with countless larger dogs, including other bully breeds types, capable of inflicting as much or more harm than the strongest pit bull could.

The judge based his decision that Lennox was a threat to society on stereotypes, misleading ‘expert’ reports, and his own apparent distrust of strong dogs. In his ruling, Judge Rodgers repeatedly refers to an episode where Lennox jumped up on and knocked back the dog warden who came to confiscate him. Court records indicate that two other animal control employees witnessed this. Even though the actual behavioral cause and effect of such an action can almost always be successfully and appropriately explained, the main point here is that a person such as Judge Rodgers, who is unqualified to analyze dog behavior, can easily and mistakenly draw incorrect conclusions regarding the severity, motivation for and circumstances surrounding such behavior. If all dogs who jump up on strangers in their house were guilty of being dangerous dogs, there would not be many dogs left in homes. To fixate on this occurrence and point to it as further proof of Lennox’s dangerousness is reckless and misguided.

Every person can form and will form an opinion on a snapshot of behaviour they see, taken out of context and misunderstood by ignorance. Both David Ryan and Sarah Fisher have stated that Lennox is not a dangerous dog and I will stand by their cumulative years of expertise in the field of canine behavior, rather than listen to those who, through no fault of their own, cannot read or misunderstand canine ‘language.’

In the 18 months since Lennox was taken from his family and put in a stressful environment and situation away from those he trusted and loved most, he has been a pawn in a political game that serves to take a flawed piece of legislation, such as BSL, to an all time disgraceful level. BSL makes innocent dogs the criminals because of how they look, regardless of their actual temperament.  Your money, taxpayers’ money, is being spent by councils to seek out and confiscate these breed types, taking innocent family members away from their families, rather than tackling the real issue of  dangerous dogs.  If Belfast City Council and other governments like it really want to keep a community safe, go after the irresponsible owners who either raise their dogs in a violent manner, do not socialize them or integrate them into society in any way, allow their dogs to wander off leash and do not heed any warning signs or make any attempt to curb aggressive behavior.  Seek to penalize them to the full extent of the law, and protect your citizens by addressing the issue of dangerous dogs of all breeds, not spending your tax payers’ money on taking innocent dogs away from their families because of the way they look.

There are two sides to any story and there are always things that are said out of sadness, anger, frustration and pain. I do not condone violence or threatening behavior of any sort to any persons involved in this case. But whatever continues in the human battle over this issue, my frustration lies with the fact that regardless what has been said, the true experts’ opinions in Lennox’s case have been thrown over for behavioral opinions that were given by the prosecution’s expert Peter Tallack, even though he stated himself that he was not brought on to do a ‘behavioural test or assessment’ of Lennox, but to assess only whether Lennox was of pit bull type or not. He himself admitted that the ‘circumstances in which Lennox is being examined are not ideal’ and in this he was absolutely right. Even if he was brought onto do a behavioral assessment, you cannot do a proper assessment or get a true picture of behavior of any dog in or around the vicinity of the kennel where that dog is being confined and where it is experiencing fear, stress and confusion. To get a true picture of behavior tests should be done in all different environments and situations including confined spaces, the home environment, and other indoor and outdoor locations, on and off leash and different times of the day. As he stated, his examination was ‘90% physical conformation and only 10% behavioural’ and therefore his findings were, ‘based on how Lennox looks and not how he behaves,’ yet his statements on Lennox’s behavior under thephysical examination he was supposed to be conducting, were upheld and championed as key components of the judge’s decision to euthanize Lennox. I agree with those who say that you cannot predict future behavior in any animal just as you cannot predict it in any human. The judge also fixated on the concept that the dog is unpredictable. What dog isn’t? What animal isn’t unpredictable? If a dog is truly dangerous then I want that dog off the streets as much as the next person, but Lennox has been so unfairly treated in this case because of the situation that he was taken, the stress he has had to endure since his confinement and now the cruelty of those who seek to destroy him and his family with malicious particularly over social media, that someone needs to highlight the fact that from the start, Lennox was never given a fair chance. This case was decided the day Lennox was taken from his family in May 2010.

I myself have been threatened in different ways by supporting Lennox and his family, but that is what fear does. In order to hide the truth and serve a purpose, people will use intimidation tactics to scare others away, in an attempt to stop the truth from coming out. To the few that use threats against me and others, there are millions of people around the world singing with one voice. I am not alone, but am supported by those millions that are sick of seeing these witch hunts take place, when the real issue of dangerous dogs is not being addressed and people are still getting hurt or losing their lives to dog attacks because of irresponsible ownership. BSL tackles the wrong end of the leash and we should be putting our efforts into stopping future attacks by actual dangerous dogs, rather than putting the focus on taking animals away from their families because of the way they look.

Lennox is scheduled to be euthanized in a few days. Chances for overturning the verdict are slim, and having read the judge’s official opinion in the case, I hold very little hope that he will recognize he has let his personal feelings about this issue cloud his decision-making process. He has chosen to rely on people unqualified to correctly assess and describe the true nature of certain events relating to dog behavior.  We will campaign for justice throughout Lennox’s life and beyond.  We must learn from this and make Lennox and his family’s struggle a rallying cry for change.

Article Courtesy Victoria Stilwell’s Positively