I hate Belfast City Council - Lennox Dead :(

[LtEveDallas]

Well the Bastards won in the end

BBC Report

But the BBC has fucked up as well - first line of the report: "Lennox, an illegal pit-bull terrier type dog.."

The whole point of the campaign being that he WASN'T a Pitt Bull Terrier.

I am gutted for him, gutted for his humans. Gutted for the little girl who wanted her best friend back. Gutted for all the people in all the other countries that offered to take him - and BCC wouldn't back down.

AND the fuckers didn't even let the family see him before they killed him - and will cremate him against the familiy's wishes.

BASTARDS.

Run Free Lennox

I'd be 'unpredictable and dangerous' too after 2 years of no contact with my family, sleeping in sawdust (bad for a dogs lungs) and my own excrement with an untreated very itchy skin condition!

Can't see why the family couldn't have his body back to show him some love and give him a respectable send off unless there is something to hide. The 'public' are hardly at risk from a dead 'pit bull type'.

Very true ginger. I wonder what there excuse or reason was for not returning his body. He was certainly no longer 'unpredictable and dangerous' even though we all know he wasn't in the first place.
This poor dog, only had the wrong shaped head. It is disgusting.

Apparently his brother looks like a black lab, I have a black lab so this has really struck a chord with me.

I've been a mn lurker for ages but never been brave enough to post. I have a rescue pitbull-x myself (I'm in Ireland where they're legal but restricted) so I'm totally against bsl. I don't know what I'd do if the law ever changed and she was taken from us :( She's one of the family.

I feel really awful about what happened to Lennox but I also feel very sorry for the warden in Belfast that is being subjected to a hate campaign over this.

There is a lady who posts on another forum I'm on and she runs Ireland's only bull breed rescue. The work she does for staffies and pitts here is just brilliant. There was another pitbull in Northern Ireland last year that was in a very similar situation to Lennox - His name was Bruce. This lady took him over the border to the republic (with permission of the council) and rescued him. She's very well known amongst the rescue community in Ireland and seems very trustworthy.

This lady says that she offered a rescue space to Lennox on a similar basis to Bruce two years ago but that his family refused. She also says that Lennox wasn't a therapy dog but was kept outside in a concrete yard and not in the house, and finally that his hair was falling out from stress before he was seized.

She also says that the dogwarden who people are directing their anger at was actually really kind to Lennox. Apparently she spent months gaining his trust and even after she was promoted to a new job she came back to see him all the time on her days off so he'd have company and walks.

I feel really bad for Lennox and his family. The whole BSL thing is so unfair and cruel and tbh Lennox doesn't even look like a pitt to me. He didn't deserve to rot in that pound for two years. He should have been cosy and warm with a family that loved him.

I just think that there are two sides to this story and we're only hearing one of them. There's a thread on the boards.ie animals and pets issues site where this is discussed in case anyone is interested.

www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056668405&page=2

Preparedforaflaming, welcome :)

It's my understanding that the family turned down the rescue space because 1) Two years ago they thought they would win the case, they had the truth on their side so no reason to think they would loses him and 2) there was no guarantee that BCC would let him cross the border in any case, just like more recently they wouldn't let him go to VS.

As for the dog warden. If its true that she went back to visit him etc, why did she say in court that she was scared of him? Why would you visit a dog you were so sure was dangerous?

Oh and the original reason the family found themselves in the Dog wardens sights was complaints of him barking at the windows into the street. But how could he do that if he was kept in the yard out the back?

I don't trust BCC, and I don't trust the dog warden. I have no doubt that Lennox became damaged goods, after 2 years in a cell who wouldn't be tbh, But I don't believe he was a Pitt (or 'type'), I don't believe he was dangerous and I don't believe he deserved to die.

It's a bloody mess all round

It's a terrible mess alright - poor Lennox :(

Re the dogwarden - I think what she said was that she was very scared of him initially but that she spent a lot of time building his trust while he was in the pound (where she worked) and they ended up getting on very well together. There have been pictures released of her playing with Lennox so it does seem to make sense that she spent a lot of time with him.

Also, as far as I know the dog wardens actually knocked at the wrong door the day they seized Lennox. They were responding to a complaint about a different dog barking. (I think I read that on this thread actually but I could be wrong).

Whilst I agree that the actions of Belfast Council are disgusting I thought the female owner had agreed that Lennox was a pitbull type dog? I'm not defending anyone, just looking for clarification.

Blueemarld - a 'pitbull-type' is not actually a breed of dog. It's just a dog that has the same set of measurements as a standard defined by the law. A boxer crossed with a lab could be considered a pitbull-type under the law depending on its height, gait, the width of its jaws etc.. So you could buy a boxer-cross puppy and depending on how big it turned out you could end up with a 'pitbull-type' under that law.

I think Lennox's owners have always said he was an american bulldog crossed with a lab, but because he looked like a pitbull and fit the standard he was classed as a 'pitbull-type' under the law.

Preparedfora - If the owners were denied the chance to say goodbye, or to even be given his body back, how would this be explained? The dog warden was allowed to go back and visit and play if you say, so it is not as if this dog could not be seen by others. Something is not adding up. Something happened either prior to yesterday (i.e he had already been pts/died) or that his condition was such that there would have been public uproar if he had been seen. Ther is no other answer to that bit. In other cases out in Belfast, are the owners denied the last chance to say goodbye and not have the body returned?

Anyone with any ounce of compassion is going to know that this will be added trauma to the family and the daughter, which they will probably never get over. The psychological impact of what they have done to this family would be immense.

I understand that the law is the law. In this case it was wrong and hopefully there will be changes to this law and sooner rather than later, but when all is said and done, the added cruelty of not letting them say goodbye and receive his body home is pure torture. I feel tortured for the family and he wasn't even my dog, I didn'y know Lennox, nor his family, but I have put myself in their shoes many times over the past 2 years and my god does it hurt. We leave in this modern world and yet we continue with such barbaric acts. Unbelievable.

Victoria Stilwell arguing with twathead Pat McCarthy from BCC on why he felth Lennox should have been pts

The more I hear the more I believe that Lennox was already dead.

Preparedfor, the photos of that woman playing with Lennox were taken in the Barnes home before he was seized. She played with him, petted him, allowed him to lick her face, and then declared in court that she was scared of him. Beggars belief that she was allowed to get away with that (oh and after her court appearance she was promoted - well done her )

She also declared in court that whilst the address was wrong on the documents, it was the right house, the one that the complaints were from.

This is why I believe she is a LIAR and why I wouldn't trust BCC as far as I. Of throw them.

I'm not expert enough to comment on Lennox's breeding (tho' I'm aware of several backyard breeders that LIE to continue illegal pitbull lines). What I am completely confused about though, is why the warden in this case is not being prosecuted for perjury as her story just doesn't tally? NOONE lets a dog they think is aggressive and are scared of lick their face ffs! That incident as far as I understand happened prior to the dog being seized.

Lennox might have become a risk by the time he died, my limited experience tells me that ANY dog if treated badly enough and left with an untreated medical condition can become unpredictable tempermentaly. I personally suspect the dog died in captivity due to ill treatment, and then the authorities had to cover their own backs.

Given the now proven links between animal neglect and child welfare I think a complete overhaul of how BCC conducts itself is required. A council corrupt in one area is likely to be in others too.

Someone, some day will teel the world the truth about this. I look forward to knowing what a huge bastard cover up the whole thing was. The report was the day before that he was dead. That is what made me sure things happened prior to yesterday.

Crikey my typos are awful today. I think I am so angry and upset about poor lennox (or Leonard which is what the BCC man called him twice)

It gets worse.....BCC are now refusing to return Lennox's collar to the little girl for a keepsake.

Victoria Stilwell is not going to let this go, she is calling for a full independent investigation as she thinks they are hiding something.

Now they are refusing to return the collar too, this case reeks of suspision.
No body, no collar=maybe he died or was put down long ago

That is disgusting. Who the fuck are these people?????

Why, just why not do the decent thing and let this family begin the grieving process and give them back the fucking collar.

Bastards. They have done enough hurt to last a lifetime. The more they carry on loike this the more public outcry. There does need to be a full independent investigation into the events surrounding Lennox. Surely the family are owed that much.

I am so horrifed, i want to do something positive about it but what should we do?

I feel really helpless.

My guess is he died ages ago and they disposed of everything so there is nothing left to give back to the family.

Oh LtEve that puts a different slant on things if the pictures were taken before he was seized. None of this makes sense to me at all.
I can't believe they're keeping the collar too