Belfast | Death Row Dog Lennox to Be Put to Death Next Week

[gatagato]

Campaigners have made a last ditch appeal to save Lennox, the dog on 'death row' in Belfast after a judge ruled the pet must die by lethal injection next Monday.

Members of the Save Lennox group told The Huffington Post UK that Belfast council is ignoring offers by Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer, and Victoria Stilwell, host of 'It's Me Or The Dog' , to pay the expenses to relocate Lennox from Northern Ireland and bring him to the US to a sanctuary and freedom.

The seven-year-old canine was confiscated from his owners more than two years ago after Belfast council officials judged the dog to be a breed banned under the UK's Dangerous Dog Act (DDA).

Lennox is an American bull dog Labrador cross, but council dog wardens ruled that because he was a "possible pitbull type" he must be destroyed for the safety of the community, despite no one making a complaint about the pet.



Picture are taken from the Save Lennox campaign video that can be viewed below

Since his removal from the family home, Lennox has been locked up in a "secret location," The Belfast Telegraph reported, as his owners tried desperately to fight his fate.

A bitter legal battle has been fought at a cost estimated to be around £22,000, with the money mostly coming out of the public purse, according to the Irish Times.

However it seems the final death knell has tolled for poor Lennox.

On 12 June, a ruling made by Belfast's Court of Appeal deemed Lennox was a danger to the public and should be put down.

Although his owner Caroline Barnes has relentlessly campaigned to save her family pet since his confiscation, a statement on the Save Lennox Facebook page late on Monday announced she would not be fighting the issue any further in the courts.

The sad post from the Save Lennox campaigners declares that though there "may be errors in the Judge's ruling from a point of law this has little bearing on whether we can or should progress by taking the case to a higher court."

Stressing the importance of Lennox's welfare, the post admits they are "distraught" but said that they "have to consider the impact that any future lengthy legal battle would have on Lennox.

"We cannot subject him to any more as there are no grounds for a further appeal and we do not wish to prolong his suffering any longer by engaging in a battle that we simply cannot win," it adds.

Belfast City Council are not able to comment on the matter as the length of time able to appeal the decision has not yet run out.

However there is hope. Though the matter is no longer to be appealed in court, it seems that Lennox-lovers are taking matters into their own hands. A Facebook group organised by Save Lennox campaigners is arranging protests outside Belfast town hall, with many Facebook users flying into Belfast especially for the poor pooch.

"How many will be attending from the USA?" writes one user.

"How long does it take to get to the protest area from the airport?" writes another Lennox supporter, travelling specially to Belfast for the occasion.

The Save Lennox campaign on Facebook has more than 70,000 likes on Facebook. Take a look at a video from the Save Lennox campaigners below.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012...?utm_hp_ref=uk
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ne...-16180721.html
http://www.savelennox.co.uk/
http://www.savelennoxblog.co.uk/
http://www.savelennoxpetition.co.uk/
http://www.savelennoxfacebook.co.uk/

[r0tten]

Poor baby. Let Cesar or Victoria pay to have him brought here! Killing a dog that has done fuck all to anyone except being born half pitbull is insane.

[DannyDrama]

UK and Ireland are a pisstake for this kind of thing. Glad I live in the countryside where my dogs are not often seen. I've got friends whose dogs have been taken just on 'suspicion of being a pitbull type'. They don't even know enough to class it properly. It's that loose as fuck interpretation that's letting it happen.

[Stevee]

Poor pooch.

[Flaka]

Now that's fucking wrong. I can see if the dog had killed someone but to kill it for no other reason that it being a pit, is wrong on so many levels

[r0tten]

Originally Posted by DannyDrama

UK and Ireland are a pisstake for this kind of thing. Glad I live in the countryside where my dogs are not often seen. I've got friends whose dogs have been taken just on 'suspicion of being a pitbull type'. They don't even know enough to class it properly. It's that loose as fuck interpretation that's letting it happen.

When I lived in Rochdale my neighbor had a pit but went to his uncle, who's a vet, and had him sign papers saying he was a Staffordshire terrier. That dog was such a sweet thing. He'd sit at the end of the road everyday after school to wait on us.

[Zambini]

I was gonna be a Vet and a taxidermist, flat rate of $500

Either way, you got the Dog back

[lroy10]

This is a shit situation for Lennox but the real question is how the fuck was the "UK's Dangerous Dog Act (DDA)" allowed to fly in the first place? Then the next question would have to be, why is it still in place today? Seriously.

[diamondsmiles]

My niece just got a black lab/pitbull mix female eight months old a couple of days ago and she is the sweetest thing!

Not at all like the German Shephard that the troll next door owns that barks every time he hears anything! He's an attack dog!

Any dog can be vicious depending how he/she is brought up and trained.

[Sandbwoy]

It is inhumane to have a healthy dog put down, especially when it hasn't done anything wrong. Hopefully he doesn't get the lethal injection and they decide to let him live.