13/06/2025
⚖️ JUDGE RULES WOMAN HAS NO LEGAL STANDING IN FIGHT TO SAVE PUPPY MAX
A judge today (fri) ruled that a woman trying to re-home Max the puppy has no legal standing before the court.
Delivering her ruling at Lisburn Magistrates Court, District Judge Rosie Watters said while she was grateful for the submissions and oral arguments on behalf of Molly Piper, “I can find nothing in the legislation” that supports the case she makes.
The judge said while it was clear that Miss Piper had visited Max on two occasions and there was evidence from the council that if Max is to be re-homed, her home was suitable, she added that “she is not the keeper of the dog.”
Judge Watters said her visitations formed a “tenuous” basis for the argument that she should be given locus standi but that to her mind, “only the keeper of the dog may have standing.”
Acting on behalf of Molly Piper who is seeking to adopt stray puppy Max, a dog the council argue is a “pit bull type”, London-based KC Cathryn McGahey contended it was “in the public interest” that she ought to be given that standing.
Working on a Pro Bono basis the senior barrister, instructed by Stephen Tumelty solicitors, argued that if Miss Piper was not allowed to test the assessment and the integrity of the council’s evidence, “then who will?”
She contended that if the evidence is not tested in court through cross examination, the council’s application will go through “on a nod.”
Part of that evidence, the court heard previously, includes two reports from dog wardens employed by Lisburn City and Castlereagh Council which “have been doctored” in order to support the council’s argument that Max is a banned breed.
The court heard how the wardens had initially assessed Max as being around five months old but Miss McGahey highlighted “you cannot type a dog at five months old because it hasn’t finished growing.”
She revealed that in documents disclosed by the council, both their reports had been altered to say that in their view, Max was eight-months-old and further that their new reports had been signed and dated on the same day.
Miss McGahey told the judge the findings, and whether they had been manipulated, is significant because it is widely accepted that “a dog has to be at least eight months old before it can be typed.”
At five months old, Max would have been too young to be classed as type, Miss McGahey argued and indicated that when the court comes to hear evidence, she will be cross examining council witnesses about “who asked them to change their findings and when.”
“We say there are very big questions to be answered to why documents placed before the court have been doctored,” declared Miss McGahey when she made her submissions two weeks ago.
Under Breed Specific Legislation (BSL) which was introduced in the UK and NI in the early 90s, pit bull type dogs are a banned breed and as such, the owner must have an exemption certificate or face having the dog humanely euthanised.
Much like the recently introduced exemption certificates for XL bullies, owners of dogs classed as pit bull type must have their dog neutered or spayed, have a third party insurance policy, they have to be chipped and when they’re out in public, the dog must be muzzled and kept on a short leash.
When Max was seized as a stray last year, a spokesperson for LCCC said that two wardens and “an expert assessor from Merseyside Met Police” had identified him as a PBT while an independent assessor had also given a report that he did not meet the criteria.
Today (fri), Judge Watters ruled that Miss Piper “has no standing, regardless of the arguments put forward,” adding that if she was granted locus standi, that might “encourage a proliferation of litigation.”
Following the judge’s ruling, Donal Lunny KC, acting on behalf of the council, suggested the application “will take up to a day, or maybe half a day,” to hear the evidence.
The judge adjourned the case for two weeks so that witness availability can be checked before setting a date for that hearing.
Ends
Copy by Paul Higgins
✍️ Factual, impartial and committed to open justice.
