Reaching out...

Its been quite a long and exhausting weekend at the Felis Britannica cat show in Lutterworth this weekend.  I had a great time, but am glad that I can return to normal seahorse duties.

The point of my post right now isn't to talk about seahorses or to post any pictures but to reach out to those who read and follow my thread about something that I feel strongly about.  As many of you may know, as well as the seahorses, I also keep dogs and cats.  My animals are like an extension of my family and so I can't imagine how horrible it would be to have one of my much loved dogs taken away from me without reason and for a destruction order to be placed on his head because of the way he looks.  Sadly, Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) is something that allows this to happen because of the way a dog looks.  Certain breeds are banned in the UK under the Dangerous Dogs Act, including Pit Bull type breeds.

Over the last couple of years, I have been following the plight of one dog in particular. In May 2010 a 5 year old dog living in Northern Ireland was seized under the DDA after officials visited his house.  His name is Lennox - you may already have heard of him.  Lennox is an American Bull Dog cross.  Lennox is not a banned breed but because a tape measure determined otherwise, he has now been condemned to die.  It isn't difficult to see that a huge mistake has been made.  There are so many bad and sad things that have happened over the last 2 years with Lennox's case.  There are so many lies and misjudgments that have been made.  Many people, including the likes of Victoria Stillwell, Cesar Millan and the first minister for Northern Ireland are backing the campaign to have Lennox released.

I am not the sort to wave propaganda in people's faces or fight ferociously for a cause but Lennox's case has struck a cord with me and the fact that I keep a big dog (more breeds are likely to be added to the BSL list) makes me feel strongly for his family. There isn't much I can do as an individual, but I can try and encourage people to read about Lennox, sign a petition to release him and perhaps contact authorities to voice your feelings about the situation.  Perhaps if you have your own blog, you could do the same and spread the word.

Lennox's family have a webpage where you can read all about his story and follow the campaign to release him so far.  You can read about him here - http://savelennox.com/

You can sign his petition here - http://www.savelennoxpetition.co.uk/

If you have any pet dogs, please read Lennox's story and think about his family.

Thank you for listening :)