Belfast dog Lennox put to sleep after 2-year fight

(CNN) DUBLIN — A pug-nosed Belfast dog named Lennox, who inspired a two-year legal fight and animal-rights protests worldwide, has been put to sleep by city officials.

The Belfast City Council confirmed the 7-year-old dog was put down Wednesday after the deadline for legal appeals expired.

“Whilst there is an exemption scheme to which dogs of this type (pit-bull terrier type) may be admitted as an alternative to destruction, there were no such measures that could be applied in this case that would address the concerns relating to public safety,” the City Council wrote in a release.

Dog wardens deemed the pit bull-type dog to be a public danger and seized him from his owners in April 2010. Lennox was actually classified as an American bull dog-labrador cross. Northern Ireland’s senior appeals court last month upheld two 2011 court rulings that Lennox should be put down despite that fact.

Lennox’s owners argued the dog was not even a pit bull, never attacked anyone and could be resettled outside Northern Ireland rather than killed. An online “Save Lennox” petition and social media campaign spurred protests in Belfast and New York seeking his freedom.