Cocker spaniel Bailey released from Derry prison after public outcry

There was no risk assessment or accountability and, instead of returning to a family home after each 'shift', Bailey was stuck in the prison 24 hours a day, the charity said. Picture: Causeway Dog Rescue

The six words that dog-lovers in the North were waiting to hear came on Monday: “Bailey is now out of prison.” 

A vocal campaign to free the cocker spaniel who committed no crime culminated in his release from Derry's Magilligan Prison and transfer to an undisclosed location to begin a new life.

“Bailey is out of that environment, is now in a family home, with someone who is trained to look after him,” Jon Burrows, an Ulster Unionist Party member, told the Belfast Telegraph.

Bailey had been placed in the medium-security prison in Derry as a support dog for prisoners, but reports in August about his condition — he was said to be limping and “quivering” at night because of alarms, shouts, and fights — prompted an outcry.

Animal rights activists organised protests under the banners #alldogsmatter and #ProtectBailey, and they  lobbied the Department of Justice to relocate the former family pet, who was reportedly kept in block H2 with violent prisoners such as sex offenders and animal abusers.

Therapy dog

Causeway Coast Dog Rescue said: “After a reputable animal welfare charity declined to provide a therapy dog, Bailey was sourced informally and placed in a high-security environment with no certified training or therapy dog oversight.” 

There was no risk assessment or accountability and, instead of returning to a family home after each “shift”, Bailey was stuck in the prison 24 hours a day, the charity said.

Mr Burrows told the Stormont Assembly that Bailey had been “incarcerated for life”.

He made the announcement on Monday that the dog was out. “The full circumstances of Bailey leaving prison will have to be examined,” he said.

“There’s going to be an effort, I hope, made to try and find Bailey a permanent home to live in. This has been a disgraceful episode from start to finish.”