🔎 Bailey the prison dog: facts or fiction?

September 13, 2025

🔎 Bailey the prison dog: facts or fiction?

( This is not Bailey, it's an image created for blog purposes only )

Conflicting claims from Jon Burrows and the Justice Minister leave the public asking: Who Do We Believe? The Case of Bailey the Support Dog at Magilligan Prison

As someone who has owned dogs all my life, and worked alongside service animals in professional and voluntary roles, I know first-hand the value, intelligence and sensitivity these animals bring. I also know how vital it is that their welfare is safeguarded to the highest standards.

This is not about party politics for me — it is about facts, truth, and making sure that when animals are put into environments to support humans, they are treated with dignity and care.

That is why I approach the current debate about Bailey, the support dog at Magilligan Prison, from a non-partisan perspective.

The competing claims

In a video, newly co-opted Ulster Unionist MLA Jon Burrows stated as fact that Bailey permanently lives inside Magilligan, has no dedicated handler, and is housed in the H2 wing — which he claims accommodates sex offenders. He went further, alleging that Bailey is walked by a sex offender and that some staff are “heartbroken” at the dog’s treatment.

Contrast this with the Justice Minister’s written response to an Assembly Question. The official record insists Bailey is a registered emotional support dog for the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS), never left unsupervised, constantly safeguarded, with 24/7 veterinary access, and housed in clean, safe accommodation. Independent animal welfare officers from Mid & East Antrim Council were said to have reviewed Bailey’s situation, finding him alert, active, and well cared for, with safeguarding fully in place. Allegations of poor treatment, the Minister concluded, were “unfounded.”

A credibility gap

Clearly, both accounts cannot be wholly accurate. This raises an uncomfortable but essential question: who should the public believe? And more importantly, where is the verifiable evidence?

If the Justice Minister’s position is correct, then full transparency should be easy: publish the independent welfare report in full, provide Bailey’s housing and kennel specification, produce handler rotas, and disclose logs of prisoner contact (especially confirming whether any sex offender has ever had direct involvement with the dog). If staff raised concerns, internal complaints should also be available for scrutiny.

But Jon Burrows also faces serious questions. On what evidence does he base his claims? Why has he not made his own visit to Magilligan or spoken directly with the Governor? What checks has he made on the credibility of the sources who allegedly told him these things? If staff were genuinely “heartbroken,” why did they not whistleblow through the proper channels? And why have these allegations only emerged now, coinciding with Mr Burrows’ co-option into the Assembly?

The bigger issue: trust

This episode is about more than one dog. It cuts to the heart of why so many people have lost faith in politics. When the public is presented with two polar opposite accounts — one from a Government Minister, the other from an MLA — and both insist their version is fact, voters are left confused, sceptical, and disillusioned.

This kind of credibility gap is exactly why voter turnout continues to fall. People no longer trust that they are being given the full picture. They see political point-scoring, selective storytelling, and competing claims that cannot be reconciled without independent proof.

The way forward

If truth still matters in public life, then both sides must now put evidence, not rhetoric, on the table. The Department of Justice should publish documents, dates, and audits. Mr Burrows should set out precisely what he knows, how he knows it, and why it has only now been raised. And we also need to ask the political question: what is the agenda here? Are the UUP vying for the Justice portfolio?

Naomi Long, after all, frequently shares pictures of her own dog curled up on the sofa — it seems unlikely she would turn a blind eye if an animal were genuinely being mistreated on her watch. That makes the situation even more confusing.

Until transparency is provided, Bailey — and indeed the prisoners who society is trying to rehabilitate — are the real victims. And in the meantime, public trust continues to be chipped away.

Frankly FiFi G

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