Tag: save lennox

Lennox: Execution scheduled this week as international protests continue

Lennox the alleged pit bull is scheduled to be euthanized in Belfast this week, despite continuing international efforts to save him.

A protest Saturday in Belfast included demonstrators who flew in from the U.S., England and Dublin, according to UTV in Belfast, and demonstrations are scheduled at the British and Irish consulates in New York today, organized by No Kill New York.

Victoria Stilwell, host of “It’s Me or the Dog” on the Animal Planet network, offered to find Lennox a new home in the U.S., and cover all expenses, but on Sunday she told msnbc.com she has received no response.

The 7-year-old dog was seized in 2010 after pit bulls were banned under the UK’s Dangerous Dog act.

The dog’s owners say he is an American bulldog-Labrador mix, but dog wardens, after taking measurements, declared him a “possible pitbull type” and claimed that — though he has bitten no one and been the subject of no complaints — he had a  personality disorder.

Protesters say they are trying to raise awareness not only about Lennox but also to show that breed specific legislation is unfair.

You can find more information on Lennox on a Save Lennox website and on a Facebook page. Many of his supporters are also protesting his impending execution on Twitter.

Time runs out for Lennox


Lennox, locked up as he has been, hasn’t been running for two years now, but his story has, around the world.

Now it appears, despite a massive online campaign to save him, his time has run out.

After three court hearings, orders to execute him — because of his resemblance to a pit bull — have come down from the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland. (Now there’s a scary title.)

The seven-year-old dog was seized in May 2010 from his owner, Caroline Barnes, after amendments to the Dangerous Dogs Act were extended to Northern Ireland in 2011.

Two lower courts have already ruled that he should be put down because he poses a risk to the public under that legislation, which declares all pit bull types dangerous.

During his year on death row, lawyers presented evidence that Lennox has never bitten anyone and has behaved well since being impounded, according to the Belfast Telegraph.

In the latest, and final, court decision, judges said dog wardens who tried to examine Lennox in May 2010 were told by a man that the dog would “rip their head off.”

An expert dog handler retained by the City Council concluded that the dog had a severe personality defect.

Experts presented in Lennox’s defense, meanwhile, described him as well-handled and a wonderful family dog, who served to comfort the Barnes special needs children before the city took him away.

“Lennox will essentially be killed for looking like a pit bull not actually acting like one,” Patrick Roberts opined in Irish Central.

“It is like saying every Catholic in Northern Ireland should be jailed because some in the past were violent.”

While a date hasn’t been specified, officials say his euthanization is imminent.

Lennox spends another birthday on death row

Whether he’s mostly pit bull, mostly Labrador or mostly bulldog, Lennox has definitely become an Irish setter.

For almost two years now, the Belfast dog has been sitting in limbo, as courts in Ireland decide whether to euthanize him.

Seized by Belfast City Council dog wardens in May 2010, due to his likeness to the banned pit-bull breed, Lennox recently celebrated a second birthday on death row, and supporters marked the occasion by sending birthday cards to him — in care of the Lord Mayor of Belfast

His owner Caroline Barnes, who is appealing a court ruling to put him down, says Lennox is a American bull dog-Labrador mix who, in addition to never having bitten anyone, is a best friend of her disabled daughter.

Last October, in the latest development in the long-running case, a judge upheld a court decision that Lennox should be put to sleep.

The decision to terminate the family pet prompted an online Save Lennox campaign, which has generated almost 60,0000 Facebook supporters and almost 127,000 signatures of support. Barnes started the birthday card campaign as well.

Belfast City Council confirmed to the Belfast Telegraph that it had received a number of cards for Lennox wishing him a happy birthday. (It was April 1.)

“Just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the wonderful, beautiful, supportive and very creative messages and artwork received over the past few days,” Barnes said on the “Save Lennox” Facebook page. “Really means a lot and it has touched our family very much. Thank you all.”

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for May 24.