NJ military family plans public protest over losing K9, Mattie

An Old Bridge family has planned a public protest, months after members mounted a public campaign to pressure a private security firm to reunite them with the K9 they had raised for several years.

On Monday, the family members also said they learned that the dog has been relocated to Texas, as reported by the Bridgewater Courier News.

The public Facebook group, "Keep K9 Mattie with her Veteran Human," has shared details for a Wednesday, May 1 protest in midtown Manhattan, outside the Fifth Avenue headquarters for MSA Security's parent company, Perella Weinberg Partners.

This past winter, Seamus Fennessy delivered the black Labrador named Mattie to its owner, his employer, MSA Security.

Fennessy had lived and worked with the trained explosive detection canine for more than five years, but was called back to active duty with the Army National Guard.

"MSA’s Security’s explosive detection canine services are a matter of public and private safety. Our policies and procedures regarding our canines and handlers are subject to confidentially and may not be discussed by MSA," a spokeswoman for MSA Security said .

It's the same statement that the company has issued since the situation first gained attention in January.

Over the past three months, Fennessy's wife, Deirdre has continued social media campaigns, via Facebook and an online petition, to try and have Mattie retired from work. As of April 15, the petition had more than 135,000 signatures.

Among the family's supporters has been New Jersey State Sen. Declan O'Scanlon, who suggested letting the dog live with the family but come to work each day.

In a March update on Facebook, Deirdre Fennessy said of the company CEO Glenn Kucera "It is apparent that Mr. Kucera is determined to make an example of us without any regard for the lives he’s damaging in the process. Not just myself, my husband, and our entire family but the most innocent one here, our poor Mattie."

Mattie recently turned 7 years old which for a Labrador Retriever is the earliest threshold for being considered a senior dog, according to guidelines from the American Veterinary Medical Association.

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