Saved from death row – Bruce finds new home in Galway

Date Published: 02-Aug-2010

By Darragh McDonagh

A dog on death row which has been the subject of a worldwide campaign for almost three years has been saved after a court agreed to release him into the custody of a Galway animal rescue centre.

Bruce the dog was seized by North Down Borough Council in September 2007 after the local authority received a report that a dangerous dog was being kept in the area.

He had never displayed any aggression but under legislation in Northern Ireland, which has been amended elsewhere in the United Kingdom, animals deemed to be “Pitbull-type dogs” are illegal and must be destroyed.

Bruce’s young owner, Shannon Brown, appealed the decision of the court to order to destruction of the dog and a legal battle ensued that was protracted over nearly three years until last month.

Meanwhile, the dog was kept at a number of secret locations in the custody of the local authority pending the outcome of the court case. He became dangerously underweight and suffered injuries to his nose and tail, a third of which was cut off.

Earlier this year, East Galway Animal Rescue (EGAR) sought to save Bruce from death row by offering to take him into its custody and out of the jurisdiction where the law stated that he had to be destroyed.

The offer to take the dog, who the court agreed had an “overall pleasant temperament”, was initially rejected but its stance changed and Bruce’s saviours travelled to collect him in the North.

“He had never threatened anyone. He was just confiscated purely on the grounds of what he looks like and he’s not even a Pitbull,” said Sarah Gunther of EGAR.

Ms Gunther reported that Bruce is making a good recovery and settling into his new home since his release.

Read more in this week’s Connacht Sentinel