Lennox is a 5 year old American Bulldog/Lab cross who lived with his family in Belfast, Northern Ireland. His family consists of his two owners and their eleven year old daughter who is handicapped. There is another pet, a Boxer dog. When the daughter is unable, due to her illness, to go outside and play with other children, Lennox is by her side.
Lennox is up-to-date on all his shots, is neutered, micro-chipped, DNA tested and every year his owners get him licensed as is required in Belfast. He is insured and PetSafed and the family have DNA tests. Belfast does not insure or license banned dogs.
In May of 2010, Lennox's family were visited by three Belfast City Counsil Dog Wardens and some local police (PSNI). They arrived unannounced. The dog wardens told the local police they were not required and they then sat down with the family and had tea. They chatted with the family, smoked cigarettes and played with the family dogs then one of the wardens measured Lennox. They measured his muzzle and his rear legs and based on those measurements decided that Lennox was a pit-bull 'type' dog. They didn't seek any professional assistance in this assessment; they simply ruled then and there that Lennox was a pit-bull 'type' and therefore they led him away from his family so that he could be put to death. Let's not forget that Belfast does not license or insure banned breeds and Lennox has been insured and licensed since he was eight weeks old.
Two hours after Lennox was seized the family received a phone call from one of the wardens. The phone call was a thinly veiled attempt at intimidation. The family were told it was in their best interests to sign Lennox over to them or the owner would most certainly lose his job as they would be prosecuted in court. Since that time the family has tried, in vain, to get Lennox back. Their many phone calls to the Dog Control Manager have not been returned. They have been denied access to him.
Recently, photographs have emerged of Lennox in a very small concrete cell, with sawdust on the floor, surrounded by his own feces. There are no toys for stimulation and no sign of available water. Lennox has been sitting in this cell for ten months now. On the day of this writing, March 29th,2011, the case of Lennox was heard in court and a Judge, by the name of Nixon, has decided that Lennox should die.
Lennox's brother, Diesel, also lived in Belfast and his family was also visited by the wardens. In fact, the very same warden who decided Lennox was a pitbull 'type' and should die, decided that Diesel was a Lab cross and got to live.
The arguements against BSL, or Breed Specific Legislation, are, in my opinion, overwhelming. Firstly, it would mean that all dogs would have to be breeds. That just isn't the case. There are many cross breeds and mutts out there. Who can tell what is in their genetic makeup? I guess getting a DNA test might help, but, let's not forget, Lennox's family did have a DNA test and it was ignored. The dog looked like a pitbull type. So that means that ferreting out the banned or dangerous dogs is subjective and probably arbitrary. It's up to the person doing the assessing if the dog looks like the 'type' they are after.
Secondly, if it is decided that all pitbull type dogs are to be controlled or done away with, standing in second place would be a kind of dangerous dog that would soon be elevated to first position. Where would that end? Isn't there always going to be a larger scarier dog until perhaps the Cocker Spaniel is looked at with suspicion.
Thirdly, there actually is no evidence that BSL works. Let's face it. People who breed pitbulls specifically to fight, to be weapons or to guard their drug stash are breaking the law anyway. Owning a pitbull is the least of their sins and, quite frankly, I don't think they give a flying fig about the law. They don't even give a flying fig about the dogs. They shoot them when they are no longer necessary. If there are no pitbulls to be had they could just as easily use any other large breed of dog and train it.
Fourthly, don't you think it is just plain scary that someone can knock on your door, take a look at your family pet and cart it away to be killed based on the way it looks. Do we really want that? Knocks on the door by officials who can actually do that to us? I'm not talking about a pack of dogs running loose and biting people and terrorizing neighbourhoods. I'm not talking about a dog that attacks other dogs. I'm not talking about a dog who has bitten a person. I'm talking about your dog, your family pet, your Labrador Retreiver, your Goldendoodle, your beloved mutt being whisked away because it looks as though it might, at some undefined time in the future, perhaps do something dangerous. And then sit in a filthy, cold cell with no companionship, no water, no toys, no family for ten months while you, its owner, try to get him out to no avail. Do we want anyone to have that authority? For heaven's sake, even police need just cause when going to the houses of known criminals.
What will happen to Lennox now is anyone's guess. The Belfast council seem to have dug their heels in and Lennox is now on death row. The Belfast City Council is deleting all emails that refer to Lennox. Clearly they do not wish to continue hearing that they made a tragic mistake. The public has been muzzled.
His family are appealing but what will be the damage to them all. What of the eleven year old girl who misses her pet, her friend. Does she know that he is going to die because of the way he looks? What of the owners? How do you fight something like that? How do you get beyond the frustration, anger and feelings of helplessness? How do you explain it to your daughter? What of Lennox? If he gets out at all, which he probably won't, what will the months of confinement have done to him? Will he be the same loving, carefree, well behaved pet? What an awful no win situation for everyone.
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