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The breed will be the fifth to e banned in the UK and will join the banned Pit Bull Terrier. Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Brasileiro/Brazilian Mastiff.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BBC News (11th September 2023)
Home Secretary Suella Braverman is seeking "urgent advice" on banning "lethal" American bully XL dogs.
Her statement comes after footage was posted online of an attack on an 11-year-old girl in Bordesley Green, Birmingham, on Saturday.
Ms Braverman said the attack was "appalling" and the breed was a particular danger to children.
The girl and two men who intervened were bitten by the dog. All three were treated in hospital.
Ms Braverman wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "This is appalling. The American XL bully is a clear and lethal danger to our communities, particularly to children.
"We can't go on like this. I have commissioned urgent advice on banning them."
Meanwhile, the mother of a 10-year-old boy killed by an American XL bully asked why the government had not acted sooner.
Emma Whitfield, whose son Jack Lis was mauled at a house in Caerphilly, Wales, in 2021, tweeted: "It's crazy how this video has gone viral and now politicians are coming out of the woodwork saying how bad it is.
"Where were you when other innocent people were killed? Where were you when I was at Parliament asking for change? Nowhere."
Former Justice Secretary Sir Robert Buckland also said: "I am deeply concerned by the rise of attacks on people, pets and livestock by bully XL dogs . The government should take action and ban these dogs."
Dog behaviourist Stan Rawlinson told the BBC: "This breed is a whole different ball game. The XL bully to my knowledge is probably the most dangerous dog breed or cross-breed I've ever seen.
"It's hyper-reactive. It has an enhanced prey drive and a reactivity that is totally off the scale."
Unfortunately you can't ban a dog breed, nor can you stop morons churning out these dogs in backyards.
Start packing the owners off to prison if their dog attacks a person or other animal. Force owners of dogs of a certain class to have public liability insurance. Let the insurers price the risk. Don't have your dog insured, dog goes and you get charged.
Unfortunately you can't ban a dog breed, nor can you stop morons churning out these dogs in backyards.
Start packing the owners off to prison if their dog attacks a person or other animal. Force owners of dogs of a certain class to have public liability insurance. Let the insurers price the risk. Don't have your dog insured, dog goes and you get charged.
As the article points out, the UK already has a number of Community Protection Notices - which require dog owners to take appropriate action to address behaviour.
Whilst in terms of more serious offences under the Dangerous Dogs Act, where people can be put in prison for up to 14 years, be disqualified from owning an animal for life and dangerous dogs being euthanised.
As for appropriate action, you can indeed target those who operate puppy farms, dog fighting rings or who flout laws in relation to breeds, and the Police and other authorities do take regular action, and have specialised units.
The American Bully XL is not a traditional British dig breed, and although a breed that few people have even heard of , it now accounts for for 45% of dog attacks in the UK, whilst such breeds are often linked to dog fighting rings, something that result in the most horrific injuries and animal suffering beyond the comprehension of most people, and this is a further reason as to why legislation and law enforcement needs to be effective.
I'm familiar with bully breeds in general...but what's THIS exactly? And what does XL stand for? All I can think of is Extra Large.
The BBC recently published the article below.
What I don't understand is why the constant need to produce ever larger and more aggressive breeds.
Why not just buy a traditional British breed such as a normal traditional English Bulldog or a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, English Bull Terrier, English Mastiff etc.
American Staffordshire Terriers are very different to the traditional English breed, and the same applies to American Bullies and other breeds, which are nothing like the traditional breeds, and by taking these already massive new breeds and then further crossing them is just asking for trouble.
The problem is dogs are wild animals, and the difference between these breeds and more traditional breeds is becoming akin to the difference between a large wild cat apex predator and a domestic cat, and the same applies to the damage such animals can inflict.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BBC News
What is the American bully?
American bullies are said to have originated in the US in the late 1980s, when American pit bull terriers and American Staffordshire terriers were crossed.
They have been crossed with other breeds to create an even more muscular dog.
The United Kennel Club in the US says that an American bully "makes an excellent family dog".
"Despite its powerful appearance their demeanour is gentle and friendly," it says, but also notes that "dog aggression is characteristic of this breed".
There are four variations: standard, pocket, classic and XL.
The American bully is regarded as a specific breed in the US.
However it is not recognised as such by the main British dog associations, such as the Kennel Club.
Bully Watch, a group of London-based policy experts, told BBC News the breed first appeared in the UK "around 2014 or 2015", and that numbers grew rapidly during the pandemic.
"Lots of people started buying with the intention of breeding," a spokesperson said. "There's models of co-ownership where you get the dog for free but the dealer gets to breed from it."
How dangerous is the American bully?
American bullies have been involved in several high-profile attacks.
In April, a 65-year-old grandmother was killed after she tried to break up a fight between her two American bullies at her home in Liverpool. The coroner noted that she had been found with "catastrophic injuries".
Last year a 17-month-old toddler was mauled to death in her own home by one of the dogs in St Helens, just a week after her family had bought it.
And in 2021, 10-year-old Jack Lis died from severe neck and head injuries after he was attacked by an American bully XL in Caerphilly. His mother, Emma Whitfield, has called for the dogs to be banned.
Richard Baker, an NHS consultant surgeon, told BBC News that because the dog has "such powerful jaws, the wounds are worse compared to other breeds".
"In [American bullies] its a crushing or a tearing injury," he said. "Once they grip they don't let go. That kind of injury is more damaging than smaller dogs."
He said that American bullies break bones, shred skin and damage nerves.
"If the nerves are damaged and can't be repaired - which is often the case if its ripped out - it is common to form a source of ongoing pain," he said.
I'm familiar with bully breeds in general...but what's THIS exactly? And what does XL stand for? All I can think of is Extra Large.
I had to google it. It's a new bred to me. Yes, XL stands for "extra large". They are big, muscle-bound dogs, and look like a pit bull on steroids. They look nothing like an American Bulldog, which is also a breed that tends towards aggression, but doesn't appear to have anything to do with the American Bully XL.
What I don't understand is why the constant need to produce ever larger and more aggressive breeds.
The same reason breeders keep enhancing the traits of other powerful potentially aggressive dog breeds. There's a market for them. Idiotic buyers want to enhance their macho image via owning a dangerous animal (and dog ownership is legal...not to mention more convenient than a lion, chimp, or tiger), social status owning something others don't, claiming bragging rights over the cost, insecure little man-babies hoping to instill fear in others, getting some sort of high thinking they have control over something dangerous, on and on. Not hard to figure this out IMHO. So much of it comes down to the psychological neediness of the buyers, not the dog itself.
The same reason breeders keep enhancing the traits of other powerful potentially aggressive dog breeds. There's a market for them. Idiotic buyers want to enhance their macho image via owning a dangerous animal (and dog ownership is legal...not to mention more convenient than a lion, chimp, or tiger), social status owning something others don't, claiming bragging rights over the cost, insecure little man-babies hoping to instill fear in others, getting some sort of high thinking they have control over something dangerous, on and on. Not hard to figure this out IMHO. So much of it comes down to the psychological neediness of the buyers, not the dog itself.
I totally agree.
I also agree with both legislation aimed at increasing owner responsibility, as well as clamping down on such breeding in relation to organised crime, dog fighting and idiots using intimidating dogs as a means to intimidate others and as a status symbol.
Enforcement is always going to be an issue. Law-abiding people will follow the rules, but generally, it isn't their dogs that are causing the issues.
Here, they decided to let people have bully breeds, but the rule required the dog be spayed/neutered, licensed, vaccinated and chipped. So, the animal shelter constantly picks up dogs, on the other side of town, that bully breeds, no chips or identification. 95% of the dogs at the shelter are bully breeds. So, the rule did very little, as they had the dogs before and will never follow the rules. Dog gets picks up, they don't claim it, and they get another dog.
I can't imagine an aggressive breed being loose running the neighborhood! I see here in KS when looking at the ads, Cane Corso is becoming popular.
If only we could require that the owner be smarter than their dog, it would be a safer world.
As the article points out, the UK already has a number of Community Protection Notices - which require dog owners to take appropriate action to address behaviour.
Whilst in terms of more serious offences under the Dangerous Dogs Act, where people can be put in prison for up to 14 years, be disqualified from owning an animal for life and dangerous dogs being euthanised.
As for appropriate action, you can indeed target those who operate puppy farms, dog fighting rings or who flout laws in relation to breeds, and the Police and other authorities do take regular action, and have specialised units.
The American Bully XL is not a traditional British dig breed, and although a breed that few people have even heard of , it now accounts for for 45% of dog attacks in the UK, whilst such breeds are often linked to dog fighting rings, something that result in the most horrific injuries and animal suffering beyond the comprehension of most people, and this is a further reason as to why legislation and law enforcement needs to be effective.
You've described the reason banning dog breeds is so difficult. AFAIK, the AB XL is not a recognised breed by the main national kennel clubs, it's just a bunch of hacks breeding dogs to make them larger. When you take a fighting dog like the American pitbull and then breed for size and not temperament whatever you create will be a disaster waiting to happen. There is absolutely no reason why anyone needs to own such a dog. And the people who do want them are the least equipped to handle them.
I have seen that attack by that XL bully. It is not normal dog behaviour to go around chasing people trying to kill them. That has unfortunately been bred into those dogs by humans.
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