You want to rehome Pit Bulls and help pay for that?
Great! How many million can we sign you up for?
A dog named Lennox was killed in Ireland this morning.
Big damn deal.
You see, dogs are killed in Ireland all the time. It is country overrun with dogs kept in a frightful state.
Dogs of every kind are routinely killed in Ireland -- Hounds, Pointers, Setters, Collies, Terriers, and a huge number of Staffie crosses.
You want a death-row dog from Ireland?
No problem -- there are people who will be only too happy to send you one. Jemima Harrison is routinely looking for competent and sane people to foster and adopt dogs from her Irish dog rescue.
So what's so special about Lennox? Not a damn thing.
Well, maybe a few things.
You see Lennox was an illegal dog from the get-go. You can agree or disagree with a breed ban on American Pit Bulls and other deemed-to-be fighting dogs, but the law is the law in Northern Ireland, and it has been in place since 1991. If you flout it, you take your chances, and you are gambling with the dog's life. Does this really need to be said?
I am not saying that Lennox's owners did not love the dog. No doubt, and I am sure. But who put this dog's life in harms way? First and foremost he people who bred it, and the people who acquired it without any paper work whatsoever.
Oh, and did I mention that this dog was named after the fighter Lennox Lewis? Right. Connect the dots.
Lennox's owners claim the dog is an "American Bull Dog / Retriever cross."
Maybe. But lying about a Pit Bull's pedigree is not exactly a new game when these dogs get into trouble, is it?
But, let's suppose that it's true. Why no paperwork? Why no sire or dam to point to? And are we to believe this cross was not specifically done to make a Pit Bull-looking dog?
In fact, that's the name of the game, isn't it -- to walk as close to the legal line as you think you can get away with? But walk too close to the line, and one day you may step over it. When that happens, the dog dies. Game over.
And what of this particular dog?
What about the actual dog in question. You see, the hand-wringers doing all the typing on the Internet about Lennox have not actually seen or met this dog and, to be clear, neither have I.
That said, the fact that this ONE dog has been elevated to seizure and euthanasia status in Belfast suggests there might be something rather unique about this one particular dog.
What might that be?
The dog wardens who confiscated the dog do not sound unsympathetic to dogs in general, but they do note that:
Wow. So this was not a tail-wagging puppy? It was a five-year old dog described as "one of the most unpredictable and dangerous dogs" a London Metropolitan police dog handler had come across? It was described by the Belfast dog warden as the most dangerous dogs she had seen in her 25 years’ experience as warden?
Two courts heard evidence over several days and, in the end, both courts affirmed the kill order.
Does any of that give anyone else the slightest bit of pause?
Are we to elevate the typing of people who have never seen the dog in question, much less worked with it, over those who have no particular ax to grind, and who have seen the dog, and worked with it, and who have unambiguous concerns about the animal's safety in public?
What is especially infuriating about Lennox and other "cause celebre" Pit Bull cases is that the people beating the gong to spare this ONE dog are dead silent about the thousands of Pit Bulls and Staffies killed and shoved into the ovens on a daily basis.
They would demonize animal control officers over a dog they have never seen, but they give a complete pass to the puppy peddlers, knuckle-dragging thugs, and complete fools who breed these dogs, acquire these dogs, and then abandon them to the shelters where they are killed.
Let me say it again: the reason so many Pit Bulls and Staffies are killed in this country, and in Ireland, and in England, is that Pit Bull and Bull Staffie "lovers" breed these dogs, sell them to anyone, and then the people who acquire them and claim they "love" them, find that the actual dog is too much for them to handle. Next stop, the local pound, and then the gas chamber, the blue solution in a syringe, or even a bullet to the head.
There has been a lot of ridiculous commentary about Lennox, all of it centered on the notion that "Breed Specific Legislation" is wrong.
Nonsense.
While I am against demonizing a dog, just because of what it looks like, it's time the dog world came to terms with the fact that Pit Bulls and Staffies have a very breed-specific problem that requires a breed-specific solution.
That problem is "Pit Bull lovers" who breed these dogs and then sell them to anyone, and who then wink and shrug when most of those dogs are subsequently abandoned to their death.
This is a breed specific problem that needs a breed-specific solution, and not talking about who is the problem (Pit Bull lovers) is NO solution.
If the story of Lennox will make people in Northern Ireland and England a little slower to breed these dogs, to acquire them, and to flout the law if and when they are illegal, then Lennox's death will not have been in vain.
A final note: If there is anything more perverse than Victoria Stilwell injecting herself into the last days of Lennox's life, I do not know what it is. Stilwell, who put herself out there as a dog trainer before she even owned a dog, has proven that she cannot work with a biter, even when that dog is nothing more than a Cocker Spaniel. See the video below for conformation on that point.
To add even more absurdity to the tragedy, nearly one million Pit Bulls will be killed in America this year. Thousands more Pit Bulls and "Bull Staffies" will be killed in Ireland and England this year as well.
Ms. Stilwell says she wants to rehome Pit Bulls and help pay for that?
Great! How many million can we sign her up for?
The graphic, below, shows how many Pit Bulls are killed EVERY DAY in America -- twice as many dead Pit Bulls than ALL dogs registered by the AKC every year.
.
Big damn deal.
You see, dogs are killed in Ireland all the time. It is country overrun with dogs kept in a frightful state.
Dogs of every kind are routinely killed in Ireland -- Hounds, Pointers, Setters, Collies, Terriers, and a huge number of Staffie crosses.
You want a death-row dog from Ireland?
No problem -- there are people who will be only too happy to send you one. Jemima Harrison is routinely looking for competent and sane people to foster and adopt dogs from her Irish dog rescue.
So what's so special about Lennox? Not a damn thing.
Well, maybe a few things.
You see Lennox was an illegal dog from the get-go. You can agree or disagree with a breed ban on American Pit Bulls and other deemed-to-be fighting dogs, but the law is the law in Northern Ireland, and it has been in place since 1991. If you flout it, you take your chances, and you are gambling with the dog's life. Does this really need to be said?
I am not saying that Lennox's owners did not love the dog. No doubt, and I am sure. But who put this dog's life in harms way? First and foremost he people who bred it, and the people who acquired it without any paper work whatsoever.
Oh, and did I mention that this dog was named after the fighter Lennox Lewis? Right. Connect the dots.
Lennox's owners claim the dog is an "American Bull Dog / Retriever cross."
Maybe. But lying about a Pit Bull's pedigree is not exactly a new game when these dogs get into trouble, is it?
But, let's suppose that it's true. Why no paperwork? Why no sire or dam to point to? And are we to believe this cross was not specifically done to make a Pit Bull-looking dog?
In fact, that's the name of the game, isn't it -- to walk as close to the legal line as you think you can get away with? But walk too close to the line, and one day you may step over it. When that happens, the dog dies. Game over.
And what of this particular dog?
What about the actual dog in question. You see, the hand-wringers doing all the typing on the Internet about Lennox have not actually seen or met this dog and, to be clear, neither have I.
That said, the fact that this ONE dog has been elevated to seizure and euthanasia status in Belfast suggests there might be something rather unique about this one particular dog.
What might that be?
The dog wardens who confiscated the dog do not sound unsympathetic to dogs in general, but they do note that:
Whilst there is an exemption scheme to which dogs of this type (pit-bull terrier type) may be admitted as an alternative to destruction, there were no such measures that could be applied in this case that would address the concerns relating to public safety.
The Council’s expert described the dog as one of the most unpredictable and dangerous dogs he had come across.
Wow. So this was not a tail-wagging puppy? It was a five-year old dog described as "one of the most unpredictable and dangerous dogs" a London Metropolitan police dog handler had come across? It was described by the Belfast dog warden as the most dangerous dogs she had seen in her 25 years’ experience as warden?
Two courts heard evidence over several days and, in the end, both courts affirmed the kill order.
Does any of that give anyone else the slightest bit of pause?
Are we to elevate the typing of people who have never seen the dog in question, much less worked with it, over those who have no particular ax to grind, and who have seen the dog, and worked with it, and who have unambiguous concerns about the animal's safety in public?
What is especially infuriating about Lennox and other "cause celebre" Pit Bull cases is that the people beating the gong to spare this ONE dog are dead silent about the thousands of Pit Bulls and Staffies killed and shoved into the ovens on a daily basis.
They would demonize animal control officers over a dog they have never seen, but they give a complete pass to the puppy peddlers, knuckle-dragging thugs, and complete fools who breed these dogs, acquire these dogs, and then abandon them to the shelters where they are killed.
Let me say it again: the reason so many Pit Bulls and Staffies are killed in this country, and in Ireland, and in England, is that Pit Bull and Bull Staffie "lovers" breed these dogs, sell them to anyone, and then the people who acquire them and claim they "love" them, find that the actual dog is too much for them to handle. Next stop, the local pound, and then the gas chamber, the blue solution in a syringe, or even a bullet to the head.
There has been a lot of ridiculous commentary about Lennox, all of it centered on the notion that "Breed Specific Legislation" is wrong.
Nonsense.
While I am against demonizing a dog, just because of what it looks like, it's time the dog world came to terms with the fact that Pit Bulls and Staffies have a very breed-specific problem that requires a breed-specific solution.
That problem is "Pit Bull lovers" who breed these dogs and then sell them to anyone, and who then wink and shrug when most of those dogs are subsequently abandoned to their death.
This is a breed specific problem that needs a breed-specific solution, and not talking about who is the problem (Pit Bull lovers) is NO solution.
If the story of Lennox will make people in Northern Ireland and England a little slower to breed these dogs, to acquire them, and to flout the law if and when they are illegal, then Lennox's death will not have been in vain.
_ _ _ _ _
A final note: If there is anything more perverse than Victoria Stilwell injecting herself into the last days of Lennox's life, I do not know what it is. Stilwell, who put herself out there as a dog trainer before she even owned a dog, has proven that she cannot work with a biter, even when that dog is nothing more than a Cocker Spaniel. See the video below for conformation on that point.
To add even more absurdity to the tragedy, nearly one million Pit Bulls will be killed in America this year. Thousands more Pit Bulls and "Bull Staffies" will be killed in Ireland and England this year as well.
Ms. Stilwell says she wants to rehome Pit Bulls and help pay for that?
Great! How many million can we sign her up for?
The graphic, below, shows how many Pit Bulls are killed EVERY DAY in America -- twice as many dead Pit Bulls than ALL dogs registered by the AKC every year.
.
So, how many of these dogs and how many hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars a year can we sign you up for Ms. Stilwell?
Or is this simply one more cause-of-the moment kind of thing that newspaper and magazine editors grab on to to sell more copies as they gin up a case of contrived moral outrage? A canine version of the Jonbenet Ramsey story, in which the facts are kicked to the curb in the service of a five-page spread designed to get everyone's knickers into a twist. Right. We've all seen that before. Nothing new there at all. That's a Nancy Grace story with dogs, and never mind the daily Pit Bull horror going on within 30 miles of where we all live and work, and no one taking action on that at all. We can't even talk about that can we? After all, if we did we would quickly realize we cannot adopt our way out of the Pit Bull mess -- we're going to need breed-specific legislation to control the breeding of Pit Bulls if we are ever to stop the killing.
..
Or is this simply one more cause-of-the moment kind of thing that newspaper and magazine editors grab on to to sell more copies as they gin up a case of contrived moral outrage? A canine version of the Jonbenet Ramsey story, in which the facts are kicked to the curb in the service of a five-page spread designed to get everyone's knickers into a twist. Right. We've all seen that before. Nothing new there at all. That's a Nancy Grace story with dogs, and never mind the daily Pit Bull horror going on within 30 miles of where we all live and work, and no one taking action on that at all. We can't even talk about that can we? After all, if we did we would quickly realize we cannot adopt our way out of the Pit Bull mess -- we're going to need breed-specific legislation to control the breeding of Pit Bulls if we are ever to stop the killing.
..
.
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