Today is a very sad day for me and millions of animal lovers around the world. The two-year battle to “Save Lennox”  was lost, ending in his euthanasia by the Belfast (Northern Ireland) City Council. For the condensed story, see this article.

I first learned of this story a few months after Lennox was taken away from his family because he had the looks of a “pit bull mix.” Victora Stilwell was a keynote speaker at an animal conference I attended. Victoria Stillwell is the person behind (and in front of) Animal Planet’s “It’s Me of the Dog”, a show that promotes only positive reinforcement training to work with problem behaviors (of the dogs and, most importantly, their humans).

Here is a short video about Lennox

The story of Lennox and the fight to save him spurred to action an army of facebook members that took to the media to stop the unfair laws that resulted in Breed Specific Legislation, or BSL, based solely on the appearance of a dog. It ignores a dog’s history, owners and bloodlines. Bloodlines because BSL requires that all dogs be classified as a specific breed. As a dog rescuer, I know first hand that a huge majority of dogs have no one specific breed, but are a kamikaze of many breeds. According to his family, Lennox was a pug-nosed American Bulldog/Labrador mix. He had no prior history of aggression, and lived with his adoring family (including a child), and his kennel-mates- a Boxer and a Yorkshire Terrier.

"Bully"? I think not!

Last year, my husband and I took a trip to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, where we volunteered  at Dogtown with an assortment of dogs. there were numerous “pit-type” dogs there, from some of Michael Vick’s rehabilitated fighting dogs to evacuees and rescues of Hurricane Katrina. As you can see, these “dangerous dogs” were lovable companions just looking for a forever home.

Do Something!

Sadly, it is too late to save Lennox. But it is NOT too late to save the millions of other dogs sentenced to severe restrictions or death based solely on their appearance. Please, take a stand. Don’t “tsk-tsk” and watch as history repeats itself. What can YOU do? Start by signing the Lennox Law Campaign Petition here.  Then join the Lennox Law Facebook page to stay up to date with things we can do and legislation updates. Educate others about the unfairness of BSL.  Volunteer at a shelter. Donate. Just please, Do Something! It’s up to us, because they don’t have a voice!

Thank you, and Lennox, we will never forget you.