Outrage over Lennox
Jul-12-2012

Despite a global outcry from animal rights activists, a dog was put to sleep in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Wednesday because city officials said he looked like a pit bull.
The 7-year-old pug-nosed dog, Lennox, was at the center of a two-year legal battle between his owners and the Belfast City Council. The city's dog wardens seized Lennox in 2010, claiming he was a dangerous "pit bull-type dog," according to The Associated Press. Pit bulls are illegal in the United Kingdom.
Lennox's owners argued he was not only not dangerous-he was not even a pit bull. In court, Lennox's owner Caroline Barnes said the dog had never bitten anyone, but that she would muzzle him around strangers.
The case sparked outrage among animal rights groups, inspiring a "Save Lennox" campaign and an online petition that collected more than 200,000 signatures. Some people-including celebrity dog trainer Victoria Stilwell-offered to adopt the dog in the United States, where pit bulls are legal.
But last month, a senior appeals court in Northern Ireland upheld a lower court ruling that called for Lennox to be put down.
In a statement, the City Council said an expert "described the dog as one of the most unpredictable and dangerous dogs he had come across," and that it had no choice but to euthanize him.
City Council members said they have received death threats, part of what they called "a sustained campaign of abuse."

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