To think having XL bullies around children is child neglect?

I don't think any dog should be left alone with a small child.

Sorry I know it's not funny but your comment reminded me of this.

Someone I used to know from school has an XL bully that looks like its muscles have been generated by AI. The thing looks almost fictional its appearance is so intimidating. All over his facebook are photos of his 3 year old holding the dog on its lead whilst the dog stares at the camera broad chested and dead eyed. It’s so uncomfortable to look at I have unfollowed his posts.

I wouldn’t leave my child alone with any dog. I have a pug and my daughter is clumsy and heavy handed. Despite how well trained any dog is, if they are accidentally hurt they could snap because they are animals with animalistic brains. It is totally negligent to leave any child alone with a dog.

@Eaglemom Here it’s the Kennel Club that recognises breeds. Not cross breeds. These dogs are cross breeds. You are being way too hopeful. Do you know how they are bred? Mostly under the radar.

This is what I've been thinking/saying especially since seeing an XL bully kill someone in real life. No child should be put at that kind of risk, ever

@Eaglemom I think that's too wide a generalisation to make

I know of a family where their toddler DD's life was probably saved by their XL bully. She had a seizure in bed one night and despite the door being shut and the dog being at the bottom of the stairs he knew. He barked and barked until my friends woke and discovered their DD blue and barely breathing.

They are not all killer monsters.

There is little that can be done at the moment about these halfwit parents who post pics on SM with an enormous aggressive looking dog cuddling up with a small child.
Yes chihuahuas DO bite but there is a huge difference between a 12lb dog and a 12 stone dog.
We just have to sit and wait until the next person is ripped apart by one of these dogs. Which you can pretty much bet Will happen

Bit them? What was the result of this bite? Broken skin? A cut? A bruise? Worst case they've been left with a small scar? When a XL bully bites you it kills you! I dont understand you people at all.

Who on earth is going to identify all these potentially dangerous dogs? It simply won’t happen. The best way is for neighbours to express concern to SS or the police. I think most of us are probably able to work out where these dogs might live. They are not owned by people who like a retriever!

Many small dogs can catch other animals and birds. My small dog caught a pheasant. It wandered in front of us in the middle of a wooded area. Mostly pheasants are shot of course. Would my dog have mauled a child? No. I don’t think he would have done. However judging what some dogs might do is very difficult.

Vets cannot agree what they should do with a “banned” dog either. They have already said it’s a minefield. So it’s better for muzzles to be mandatory but who polices that!? Obviously the police won’t. It is very very difficult to ensure knee jerk laws are adhered to and policed. Plus, there will be alternative cross breeding for these dreadful owners. Some people are appalling but what do we do about them?

My dog was attacked by an out of control Husky. We had just opened our gate to leave in the car to take dd2 to uni. DD1 was saying goodbye with our dog and the husky ran into the drive and attacked our dog. We were terrified. The husky owner said he could not control it but had it off the lead with no muzzle. Who actually cared? Not the owner.

I've probably got the numbers out, but a statistic I saw on the news said they represent 1% of dog breeds, but 70% of dog attack deaths in this county. I wish people would stop calling them XL bullies, they are Pitbull crosses, as are Pocket Bullies.

@Theunamedcat But there are degrees of risk in everything, including parenting. Some risks are broadly accepted as being reasonable, others are not. Not cutting up your 6 year old's grapes is a risk, but we don't regard it as a reason for state intervention. A pet rabbit could bite a child. Ditto. But the risk from a large, powerful, in-bred dog, from a breed known for unpredictable aggression, which most adults cannot overpower, is at a level which a reasonable, competent, caring parent would regard as unacceptable.

You could say the same about any breed of dog realistically even small dogs are a risk we had a small dog pts in the 70s as it wouldn't let anyone near the baby and bit the person who did

The law does need to change. One way that has been advocated for is that the definition of dangerous dog be expanded to include dogs that attack other animals. One of the key signs a dog will attack a human, usually a child, in the near future is when the dog has attacked a cat, or a smaller dog, or a horse. Right now, dogs that attack and injure other pets/livestock are simply returned back to their owners with “words” by the police. These dogs often go on and step up to attacking humans. If the law would recognise dog attacks on other pets/animals as evidence of a dangerous dog we could prevent many attacks on humans.

YANBU but my pedantic self would class it as reckless child endangerment rather than neglect. I also would not limit it to just XL Bullys but all medium to large dogs no matter what breed should never be left alone with children.

Don't waste your breath debating with these posters, they're being utterly disingenuous. They know full well not all large breed dogs are the same, and if you gave them the choice between being in front of an XL Bully or a Golden Retriever or Great Dane they know full well what they'd choose.

It also doesn't really matter whether you never leave them unattended together or not. Look at little Bella Birch who was snatched out of her mum's arms. A grown adult is no match for these dogs.

But if it's not against the law and the only concern is that the family own a certain breed of dog, what steps can ss take? Have a convo around ensuring the safety of the child is the only thing I can think of. Seems.....oppressive to take any other action.

Of course YANBU. I work adjacent to social services and they do receive referrals from people who are worried about young children in homes with these animals. There's not a lot they can do right now other than keep the family on their radar (even with a closed case if it's reopened that info is there) but once the ban comes into play they'll have much more power to act if parents are keeping one of these dogs in the house with small children. It absolutely is child neglect.