Lennox has been destroyed. Thank you to all who tried to help

spike7451

Well it seems that the dog warden has been promoted as well;

Antrim - With outrage still swirling over the death of Lennox the dog, it appears that Alexandra Lightfoot, the dog warden who testified under oath that Lennox was "one of the most aggressive dogs" she had dealt with, received a promotion.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/328631

Fosterdog

Just a quick quiz to see how many people actually know what a pit bull is

http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

There are pictures of 25 dogs and only one is a pit bull, click on the picks to find out what breed each picture is.

spike7451

Fosterdog wrote: »

Just a quick quiz to see how many people actually know what a pit bull is

http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

There are pictures of 25 dogs and only one is a pit bull, click on the picks to find out what breed each picture is.

Took me 5 attempts & it wasn't the one I thought it was...

Fosterdog

spike7451 wrote: »

Took me 5 attempts & it wasn't the one I thought it was...

Exactly my point, and all but maybe three of those dogs could be classed as "type"

candygirl

Fosterdog wrote: »

Exactly my point, and all but maybe three of those dogs could be classed as "type"

It didn't seem to worry the dog warden on this clip of last night's One Show!!Poor dogs, and owners:(

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01l2ygv/hd/The_One_Show_16_07_2012/

HeatherintheHills

candygirl wrote: »

It didn't seem to worry the dog warden on this clip of last night's One Show!!Poor dogs, and owners:(

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01l2ygv/hd/The_One_Show_16_07_2012/

That was so shocking!

So a dog only has to meet some of those 50 odd criteria to be classed as an illegal "type"? So anyone can report your dog and if it is seized, the chances of you getting it back are almost nil because the criteria covers so many points!

That poor guy who was just walking his, IMHO, Labrador looking dog in the churchyard just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and the dog warden spotted the dog.

I found the list of things to look for to identify an illegal dog HERE (page 14)

The standard used to identify a PBT is set out in the American Dog Breeders Association standard of conformation as published in the Pit Bull Gazette, vol 1, issue 3 1977 – please refer to this for the full description and also relevant cases20 as this is only a brief overview. Although the law does not require a suspected PBT to fit the description perfectly, it does require there to be a substantial number of characteristics present so that it can be considered ‘more’ PBT than any other type of dog.
• When first viewing the dog it should appear square from the side, and its height to the top of
its shoulders should be the same distance as from the front of its shoulder to the rear point of
its hip.
• Its height to weight ratio should be in proportion.
• Its coat should be short and bristled, (single coated).
• Its head should appear to be wedge shaped when viewed from the side and top but rounded when viewed from the front. The head should be around 2/3 width of shoulders and 25 per cent wider at cheeks than at the base of the skull (this is due to the cheek muscles).
• The distance from the back of the head to between the eyes should be about equal to the distance from between the eyes to the tip of its nose.
• The dog should have a good depth from the top of head to bottom of jaw and a straight box-like muzzle.
• Its eyes should be small and deep-set, triangular when viewed from the side and elliptical from front.
• Its shoulders should be wider than the rib cage at the eighth rib.
• Its elbows should be flat with its front legs running parallel to the spine.
• Its forelegs should be heavy and solid and nearly twice the thickness of the hind legs just below the hock.
• The rib cage should be deep and spring straight out from the spine, it should be elliptical in cross section tapering at the bottom and not ‘barrel’ chested.
• It should have a tail that hangs down like an old fashioned ‘pump handle’ to around the hock.
• It should have a broad hip that allows good attachment of muscles in the hindquarters and
hind legs.
• Its knee joint should be in the upper third of the dog’s rear leg, and the bones below that should appear light, fine and springy.
• Overall the dog should have an athletic appearance, the standard makes no mention of ears, colour, height, or weight.

A dog doesn't have to meet all of these criteria to be seized.

Paradigm

HeatherintheHills wrote: »

So a dog only has to meet some of those 50 odd criteria to be classed as an illegal "type"? So anyone can report your dog and if it is seized, the chances of you getting it back are almost nil because the criteria covers so many points!

That poor guy who was just walking his, IMHO, Labrador looking dog in the churchyard just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and the dog warden spotted the dog.

The standard used to identify a PBT is set out in the American Dog Breeders Association standard of conformation as published in the Pit Bull Gazette, vol 1, issue 3 1977 – please refer to this for the full description and also relevant cases20 as this is only a brief overview. Although the law does not require a suspected PBT to fit the description perfectly, it does require there to be a substantial number of characteristics present so that it can be considered ‘more’ PBT than any other type of dog.

It's pretty much impossible to refute the opinion of an expert(s) saying your dog is of type due to it conforming to a "substantial" (define) number of characteristics. It may not have an ounce of Pitbull Terrier in it's make up but it fits the criteria/looks & that's good enough, an expert says so!

The DDA was thankfully amended (1993 I believe) removing the instant death sentence for illegal dogs & replacing this with the courts discretion to place the dog on the DD index with controls in place with regard to public safety, regardless of whether the dog had been a danger in the first place!

AFAIA to even get the chance to go to court & apply for this "discretion" you would have to agree that the dog was "of type" & basically depend on the mercy of behaviourists & the court, something I believe (IMO) Lennoxs' family tried.

The list of characteristics posted is taken from the ADBA who recognise the American Pit Bull Terrier as a legitimate pure breed along with the UKC, the American Kennel Club don't but instead substitute the the name "American Staffordshire Terrier". The UK kennel club doesn't recognise the breed & I doubt very much if there are more than a handfull of true APBT's in the country, if any! So how do the breed standards from the USA even begin to apply?

A simple Staffie cross could quite easily throw a pup that could fit "substantial" characteristics & be determined to be "of type" but the chances of it being remotely related to a Pitbull are about the same as a budgie!

This legislation needs changing now, the law needs to concentrate on the idiots with genuinely dangerous dogs (of any breed) instead of making the life of guys walking their dog in the churchyard a nightmare!

This law does nothing to protect anyone, it's a mish mash of nonsense from start to finish. As I said, it's an a s s! (IMO like)

suited-aces

spike7451 wrote: »

Well it seems that the dog warden has been promoted as well;



http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/328631

Good, she's done her job in light of thugs and scum threatening her day and daily, that's well deserving of a pay rise in my books.

Paradigm

suited-aces wrote: »

Good, she's done her job in light of thugs and scum threatening her day and daily, that's well deserving of a pay rise in my books.

Chuckle Not bad but could do better!

Oliver14

If you watch this about 2 minutes in the ridiculousness of the DDA

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01l2ygv/The_One_Show_16_07_2012/