Court hears claims of ‘doctored’ reports in case of seized puppy dog Max

Dog warden reports on a suspected Pitbull at the centre of a “social media storm” were “doctored”, a court heard on Friday (30th May).

The claim was made during a legal bid to challenge Council findings regarding the puppy known as Max.

The Dundonald dog has been held at kennels by Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council (LCCC) since he was seized in December 2024 amid suspicions he is a banned breed.

Campaigners brought the unique case to Lisburn Magistrates Court on Friday to determine if a potential new owner, Ms Molly Piper, could challenge the local authority’s findings.

Ms Piper’s barrister, Cathryn McGahey told the court:

“If Max is found to be a Pitbull type, he will be forced to endure Draconian measures for the rest of his life. And if the owner does not comply, then they will have committed a criminal offence.

“I submit that Ms Piper is the person in charge of Max and has the right to oppose the council. This exact situation in Northern Ireland has never been considered before.”

Two LCCC wardens and an expert assessor have previously identified Max as a Pitbull type breed. However, a fourth assessor, agreed between the local authority and the USPCA, declared in the dog’s favour.

On Friday the court was presented with newly disclosed documents from LCCC dog wardens who initially recorded Max as a suspected Pitbull.

The ‘December 2024’ reports were referred to in court on Friday.

Ms McGahey added: “There are questions to be answered how some of the evidence before the court came to be created. There were changes on both dog wardens’ reports from ‘5months’ to ‘approx 8months’.

“But what I suspect the dog warden, when he made his statement did not know, was that at an earlier stage the council had disclosed to us his examination sheet, because he altered it before putting this one before the court. These matter very much when it comes to questions about the effectiveness and reliability of his measurements.

“So, the dog warden has realised that you can’t type a dog at 5months old because it hasn’t finished growing and he has altered what he said to the court.

“It is my submission Ms Piper, in the public interest, should be able to cross examine the dog warden. To explain exactly why he changed his document, and who asked him to? Similarly for the second dog warden.

“Because a court should be able to trust its public servants and were it not for Ms Piper’s involvement, my learned friend would not even know about these documents and neither would the court. Why does the council not want its evidence to be challenged publicly?

“There is a massive public interest in scrutiny of the council’s testing and assessment, because if Ms Piper is not allowed to challenge that testing in this case, then nobody will. We say there are very big questions to be answered to why documents placed before the court have been doctored.”

Barrister for LCCC, Donal Lunny responded:

“The versions of those documents that were exhibited of the two dog wardens, that is a point that was only made known to me this morning outside the court. If it is a matter to be considered in the matter of standing, I will not be able to deal with it today, but it is our submission it is absolutely nothing to do with standing.

“When it comes to calling witnesses, there is every possibility that anomaly would have been identified and would in due course be explored in their evidence. There may be an entirely innocent explanation.”

District judge Anne Marshall said:

“I understand that there has been a huge social media storm over this on the ground that the dog was to be euthanised…but that is not the situation.

“I heard that this case was high profiled in terms of the social media aspect to it….but not that social media can influence the courts in any way.”

The case was adjourned for a decision on Ms Piper’s right to challenge to be made later in June.