We remain hopeful and Max remains our priority 🙏❤️

This team deserves a huge thank you for getting us to where we are today! Although we are optimistic, there is always the very real possibility we don’t get the outcome we hope for - we truly hope this will not be the case and the judge will allow the courts to decide Max’s type.

⭐️ Cathryn McGahey (Barrister, Senior Counsel) Cathryn brings a wealth of case knowledge and expertise to Max's case. We’d be lost without her as Max sets somewhat of a precedent for Northern Ireland

⭐️ Bobbie-Leigh Herdman (Barrister) Bobbie-Leigh is leading across court instructions and has made all the milestones including our listing and court hearing possible

Our team is made up of:

⭐️ Stephen Tumelty (Solicitor) Stephen, an animal rescue advocate whose been in attendance at our demonstrations and at the forefront of our legal proceedings

❤️ Lastly, we couldn’t write this post without calling out a huge, heartfelt thank you to our incredible legal team. All genuine animal lovers, giving their personal time on this case, which itself speaks volumes for the belief and passion behind Max.

We do however appreciate there will be huge public interest behind the case and we hope to request that a viewing link for the public is made available for you all to join us.

We will continue to show our unity and support for Max in the upcoming council committee meeting on Wednesday 5th March but we will respect the ask to avoid attendance on the day of the hearing.

📆 When will the court hearing take place? It is our understanding that the court hearing is held for Tuesday 18th March in Lisburn. We’ve been advised by the legal team to ask campaigners not to attend in person.

This is just part of the reason why it’s so important we challenge the Typing of Max. Regardless of outcome, Max’s new family are ready and waiting to love him through any outcome ❤️

All of these make it possible for Max to live however not in the way we believe he should be able to as a crossbreed dog who has shown nothing but kindness in his nature.

For those not familiar with what Exemption entails it would involve Max's owner complying with a number of restrictions including, muzzling Max in public, purchase of third party liability insurance.

In the event that the courts decide Max is Not Type, he is a free dog and subject to no restrictions on the quality of his life. In the event that Max is found to be of Type we would seek to pursue the route of Exemption.

⚠️What are the possible outcomes? Although we cannot confirm exactly the course of court proceedings, we hope the courts will agree to determine Max’s type. We envisage two possible outcomes to our challenge on Max's breed type.

We understand that the council also plan to bring their own application to the court. At this stage we cannot confirm any further details on the council’s application but we are hopeful that they will look to pursue a route which will allow Max to live.

❓What is the council’s position on our challenge? While we are optimistic, the Council are arguing that the new owner has no right to bring this case at all. We are very hopeful that the judge will not agree with this argument and will go on to decide whether Max is Type or not.

Working together, both the USPCA and Council identified a suitable owner for Max and under council instruction, this owner has met Max over a series of visits. It is this owner who wishes to challenge the councils verdict on Max’s type and have the courts determine if Max is Type/Not Type.

✏️ Description of legal case: On Thurs 13th February, our barrister attended a court listing which was also attended by Legal Counsel for the Council. To summarise the legal case we have put forward, we disagree that Max is a Pit bull type and believe that Max's type should be decided by the Courts.

⛔️ An update on Max’s case ⛔️

Firstly, thank you for your patience with us. It was important that we confirmed legal proceedings before we shared any update with you. Recognising that a lot of the donated monies are making this legal challenge possible, we were keen to bring you an update on our case

🔉Join us today at 12:30pm on BBC Radio Ulster

Please tune in and show your support for Max and the wonderful Zara Duncan ♥️

You can listen live on the BBC Sounds app or website here:

www.google.com/url?q=https:...

‼️Further update: our TalkBack slot has been updated to Thursday 13th February at 12.30pm - this is to accommodate a few key panellists ‼️

‼️Update: our TalkBack slot has been updated to Wednesday at 12.30pm instead of Tuesday ‼️

We are working in the background with supporters at Mid-Antrim Animal Sanctuary to put forward a visitation framework that prioritises Max’s welfare and allows his future family to visit him.

We hope this will be welcomed and importantly, backed by LCCC and its councillors 🙏

Today’s Sunday World story. Max remains in the public eye and hearts ❤️

Our energy for the week ahead remains focussed around ongoing legal proceedings but importantly in the interim period to ensure Max’s welfare and re-instate his visitation that the council have reneged on.

@andrewmuirni.bsky.social

We’d love to talk

#mercyformax #endbsl

📣 Max will be discussed on BBC Radio Ulster - TalkBack on Tuesday 📣

We’re delighted to be invited to take part in a panel discussion happening:
📆Tuesday 11th February
⏰12.30 to 1pm

Please share and listen in for what we hope is a useful discussion to talk through some key areas of Max’s campaign

#FreeMax #JusticeForMax #TransparencyNow #LCCCDoBetter #EndBSL #MercyForMax

How can you help?

📧 VISITATION - Max deserves visitation from his future potential family. Why have the council reneged on this and closed this down - this is none short of cruel and punitive. Please continue to keep pressure on LCCC councillors - demand answers that prioritise Max’s welfare.

In our hearts we fight for the fact that Max’s only true independent third party assessment outcome viewed him as NOT TYPE. We believe he has the right to live a free life like any other mongrel dog and this is what we continue to fight for.

All costs associated with the legal proceedings will come directly from Max’s go fund me page where an audit trail and note will be left on transfer to explain the payment.

🙏🙏