Saved from the U.K.’s Dangerous Dog Act

Three years after being arrested, Bruce crosses the border into safety

StubbyDog Staff Report

Bruce’s Holiday photo at Ireland’s East Galway Animal Rescue

Bruce had been held in solitary confinement for almost two years. He’d been taken from his family’s home in Northern Ireland under the U.K.’s Dangerous Dogs Act and was being held at a dog pound while the family tried to appeal his sentence: execution for the crime of being a pit bull.

Then Bruce’s plight began to reach a wider audience. Among them was Caroline Rothwell of Seattle, WA, who has relatives in Ireland and was determined to save Bruce. She started an e-mail and telephone campaign, along with social media, to persuade the authorities to spare Bruce’s life. Then she organized a candlelight vigil among dog lovers in several countries.

Even with all the publicity, though, it took the courts in Northern Ireland another year to allow Bruce to be released into the care of a sanctuary in (Southern) Ireland.

Finally, last July, two people from the East Galway Animal Rescue (EGAR) drove up to Northern Ireland to collect Bruce. Sarah Gunther of EGAR described the scene to Care2’s Megan Drake:

Bruce with Sarah Gunther

A few months later, Sarah wrote to Megan: “Bruce… passed all assessments with flying colors and is now fully trained as well. He learned Down, Stay, Heel, Into Bed, Here, Look at Me and is 100 percent housetrained. He is also bombproof with cats and other dogs, horses, cows and donkeys. He is taking commands from my 6-year-old and takes treats very gently.”