15. October 2011 by admin.

My statement and those made by Victoria Stilwell, who has spoken up for Lennox on several occasions, are now on many internet sites across the world and rightly so. Thank you to everyone who is taking the time to learn the truth about dog behaviour.  Lennox will probably be put to sleep unless the Court agrees that he can re-homed to a country, or a state in the USA, that does not have BSL.  Can you imagine a world where horses are seized and destroyed because people believe that their breed and stature is associated with the majority of fatal accidents to riders, owners and members of the public?  Of course irresponsible dog owners must be held accountable but seizing a dog based purely on its measurements does not address the true issues with problem dog behaviour.

I think anyone reading this blog can tell how all consuming this case has become over the past two weeks and the madness is continuing which I won’t go into here.  I have never experienced anything like this in my life and I was more than ready to jump on a train to London on Thursday to watch the opening night of a play that Emily is in at the Trafalgar Studios.  It was a fantastic evening and of course I am ridiculously proud of my beautiful daughter. Tony and Daisy are heading home from LA next week and I am looking forward to seeing the play again with the rest of my family.

I am off to Latvia next week to teach an animal behaviour workshop at the International Companion Animal Welfare Conference and then I am home for a night before flying out to Holland to teach a two day workshop for shelter staff near Amsterdam. November is busy with seminars at Discover Dogs, private clients both equine and canine to see and another court case where again I will be an expert witness.  I am looking forward to the Equine Health and Welfare Conference in Ireland but I make no apology to those who may have missed out on a decent summer when I say I am now actually looking forward to December and the end of what has been a busy and somewhat challenging year.

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15. October 2011 by admin.

The Lennox case continues and I have now been forced to make an official statement based on my assessment of this dog as a clip of my assessment has been put on the internet.  The clip that has been released is completely out of context and whilst I do not care if I am criticised by members of the public or professional bodies involved in this case I do care that Lennox is being portrayed unfairly in this clip.

My experience of handling Lennox was thoroughly enjoyable and despite being removed from his family early last year I found Lennox to be very charming and very self controlled. He was gentle with me at all times and although he barked at me three times and was shaking when I first approached the van that he was in, he was able to learn and take direction from a stranger (me) despite the stress he was obviously under.  This is a big ask for many dogs and the clip that has been released shows a member from the Dog Warden team stating that Lennox had bitten the last person who came to see him.  In court and therefore under oath another member of the Dog Warden team stated that in fact, Lennox has not bitten anyone so, on the evidence presented to the Court, the statement made to me during my assessment is clearly untrue.

I am not impressed and I have now written a statement based on the truth as I see it about my assessment of Lennox.   I watch an animals’ body language all the time and at no point did I feel that I would be in danger when interacting with Lennox. I was told I had to handle him on my own throughout my assessment and I did just that. I did not feel the need to muzzle him at any point and it does not take any expertise to realise this would have put me in a very vulnerable position with a dangerous dog.

This case has highlighted many concerns regarding Breed Specific Legislation.  It has now also raised many other questions in my opinion. Clearly it shows the prejudice, ignorance and fear surrounding dogs, their breed types and behaviour. As Xenephon said in 400 BC ‘Where knowledge ends, violence begins.’

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15. October 2011 by admin.

It’s been a very long week and I was really saddened to hear on Friday that the dog I was asked to assess in July is going to be put to sleep.  The family lost their appeal and have a further fourteen days to lodge another appeal based on legalities as I understand.  I don’t feel that it is appropriate for me to comment on this case from a professional point of view but if you want to know more details you only have to do a search on the internet for a dog named Lennox that was taken by Belfast City Council last year as this is a widely publicised case and many people from around the world are following this tragic story.

I spent yesterday with my good friend and colleague Marie Miller finishing the outline for a new canine course we are organising as the TTouch clinics are now over for the year.  It was good to focus on more positive aspects of my work.  I am feeling rather rough today as I now have tonsillitis but the weather is extraordinary and I have just rescued a visitor who obviously took refuge in one of the dog bowls to escape the blistering heat outside!

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