AGAIN! Something must be done

She posted in February about her XL rushing to the door hyper excited so she couldn't get a lead on him.

In that situation, if she came home after celebrating , after 11.30pm maybe more noisy than usual , and the dog/s reacted , what;s to stop it getting out ?
She'd have no control and a large , badly trained dog is on the streets .
Anyone walking home , maybe someone out with their own dog.
Traffic on the road .
All at risk.

It is a tragic case but it does show if you keep large dogs , in a large group , dance with them , call them your son it;s a recipe for disaster .

Some XL Bullies are huge , there are USA sites where the dogs are hideous.

The government, with the support of our stellar media industry, have whipped up a frenzied smear campaign.

I daresay that's what this poor deceased young woman thought too.

Yes she was just a young girl

I see this argument all the time. Yeah any dog can, though bad upbringing, become reactive and bite people. But 1. Some dogs are more prone to snapping than others. And 2. Only some dogs, like the Bully XLs, are capable of mauling someone to death. No one is being killed by whippets and spaniels.

And just to be clear, the dog isn’t fixated on the two women. It’s looking at the little dog that is being allowed to repeatedly bark and yap by the female owner without being corrected.

But you’re right, the XL Bully’s owner is the one behaving poorly….

You may want to watch a few more. To be honest, that was just one example of one of these dogs who has been raised and trained correctly. There are many others out there that do not (and never did IMO) deserve to be demonised the way they have been.

The reality is most dog breeds when you go back through history were bred for a purpose, some form of work. If owners fail to properly exercise their dogs physically and mentally, socialise/environmentalise them sufficiently, teach them to have a off switch etc, then virtually any dog breed and any individual dog can become troubled, begin to misbehave and could ultimately ‘turn’.

The government, with the support of our stellar media industry, have whipped up a frenzied smear campaign. Whilst everyone focuses on this issue, they are distracted from all the other nonsense going on that those in power are getting away with.

Horrible comment. Regardless of this girls actions you don’t know her and have no idea what level of education she has etc. I’m sure she trusted the dogs and never imagined that they would attack her. She was only 23. How can you not have some empathy ?

Sorry but I have to say I find this very disrespectful to this poor girl and her family. While I do think she must have been very naive she didn’t deserve what happened to her. These dogs should 100% be banned to protect owners like this woman as well.

Neither video proves anything about the dog. These dogs switch.

The owner is behaving horribly in the second video and I don't like the way the dog is fixated on the two women. Yes he's muzzled but I don't see encouragement of good behaviour.

^^^ Exactly.

I read there was a lot more to this than the dogs turning- kept inside, no exercise, small house etc

I find this issue a bit ridiculous to be honest.

She owed 4 dogs. 2 XL bullies and 2 staffer types. I don’t know if she had a partner but that’s a lot of dog for 2 people never mind a woman on her own

The video is just ridiculous. These were dogs. And she is forcing them to dance while telling people, who think they are violent, to fuck off.

An animal lover? Well all 4 dogs are now dead. Is that love? I would love to know how she ended up with dogs with cropped ears. I bet it’s unlikely she rescued them.

And to top off her family have done a balloon release. Are they all animals lovers too?

I can’t see where her (or their) actions are that of animal lovers?

Yes something perhaps a bit more nuanced😂

Appreciate that thank you☺️

I don't have an answer tbh. I know its not making dog ownership the sole privilege of the rich though.

@Megifer A lifetime ago, my dog was the only thing that kept me from isolating myself and having a breakdown. I HAD to get out, get dressed, eat, go to the shops, take her to the vet etc

I'm genuinely sorry you suffered that pain and yes, maybe I am being a bit glib and dismissive. I can see what you mean. I retract that statement. It was mean of me.

I do still think something has to be done to limit the amount of large breeds in social housing/spaces however as it is antisocial and potentially dangerous to people who can least afford to up and move out of the way of neighbours who have little regard for them/their children's safety

What would you propose?

And what about the owners of this breed who are responsible and are complying fully with the new rules? Their dogs will be the ones who are well behaved, correctly trained and cared for, relaxed and properly socialised and yet people are suggesting culling them too?

I’ve added some links to the YouTube of a dog walker who owns an XL Bully who is all of the above which those advocating for further action may want to watch. It’s not the XL Bully who is poorly behaved with no correction from its owner.

https://youtube.com/shorts/7ke37on6SIY?si=tgUDJXXrr6MYtudX

https://youtube.com/shorts/0GUfzqmI-Ac?si=LLTc0cNIAWd-rw_I

That's exactly what I thought when I saw the video. This young woman clearly had no idea about responsible dog ownership and sadly, they are always the ones who want to own the most challenging and dominant breeds. She's pulling him around like a toy. He shouldn't be made to stand on his back legs for such a long time.

I imagine she was totally oblivious to any subtle signs from the dog that he was stressed or nervous, or about to get aggressive.

Because someone has to clear up the mess? Would you be happy to do that?

I’m a huge dog lover and have owned rescue dogs with dodgy backgrounds in the past but I agree wholeheartedly with everyone saying that this breed is a massive threat and that more needs to be done.

Before it was the law to wear a seatbelt, many people thought bringing in such a law would be too nanny state but it has saved literally millions of people. Sometimes you need to protect people and their innocent children against themselves.

Do what you want, I'm not responsible for your conscious. If you are comfortable with such disgusting thoughts then I'm certainly not going to be able to change your mind.
It is disgusting though.

First of all in case anyone misreads. I am against XL Bullies being kept by anyone.

I really think the debate as is isn’t helping though as people continue to argue/focus on the they’re aggressive dogs with shitty owners line, without looking at the nuances.

While they are bred to be aggressive, oversized and with a jaw configuration that gives them a killer bite, they’re also dogs with a very strong natural instinct to be part of a pack, be good and please. This is why they are dangerous. People see their good side and literally can’t believe their dog could do anything bad. It’s unconscionable that people breeds these dogs with such fucked up mentalities and I’d hate to be in an XL’s head.

When the rules came in, someone tied one up to a lamppost in the middle of nowhere near me and left it. He was found crying, dehydrated and desperate to win friends after his ordeal.

Lots of videos were posted on our local pages of this poor dog being very sweet. I was shocked at the amount of normally sane villagers who were taken by his plight and his big soft eyes and wanted to take him in. These are not shitty people or bad owners.

He now lives in the village, registered and muzzled and seems a lovely boy when I see him out. However he’s in a house with two kids and my God, I fear the day if his bad instincts outweigh his good. The kindest thing would have been to put him to sleep and for everyone to stay safe.

Anyway I think what I am saying in a longwinded way is that I think a lot of XLs will try their best to be good and a lot of owners are experienced and well meaning dog lovers trying to “save” dogs from shitty owners . I still don’t think they’re safe dogs for anyone to have in their home and this should form part of the debate.

"I'd argue that pets are a huge financial strain on the poor actually. And those with mobility issues are more likely to struggle to keep up with the daily exercise requirements. In fact keeping a pet is questioned when applying for certain benefits probably because (unfairly and wrongly) it is assumed you must be a good pet owner so ARE mobile enough to get out and about and not depressed enough not to care about something other than yourself that requires significant time, focus and attention."

Yes, which is why I said dog ownership can greatly improve those issues for some owners.

A lifetime ago, my dog was the only thing that kept me from isolating myself and having a breakdown. I HAD to get out, get dressed, eat, go to the shops, take her to the vet etc.

A blanket "let's only allow wannabe posh people to have pets" is totally unrealistic (I know you know this btw and it's just chucking ideas around) and will probably only make a lot of social issues worse.

Whilst of course I wish it didn't happen to anyone, she was clearly playing with fire, she was arrogant and naive. Her and her partner both described the dogs as their babies and even son (yuck). I suspect they took zero steps to put boundaries in place and likely didn't respect the dogs space.

Having said that, I'm sure many respectful owners are at equal risk. These dogs are deadly and I struggle to sympathise with owners to be honest. They know what they're risking.

A dog with cropped ears is there as a status dog and nothing else.

It did seem that she ‘loved’ the dog in her own way but if she was cruel and idiotic enough to crop its ears then it’s obvious that she wasn’t the best owner and definitely shouldn’t have had such a strong breed.

I don’t think this proves that this breed is anymore dangerous than other string breeds.
What it does prove is that there needs to be stricter rules on dog ownership, especially with breeds that are so powerful.

They aren't banned in Northern Ireland either. Awful incident in our street a few months ago when one got out and jumped a garden wall and attacked a spaniel. Group of men had to hit it with a pole to get it off the smaller dog, then one of them had to be taken to hospital for bite injuries. I mean, all things considered, they are just an animal welfare disaster, including for the bullies themselves which should never have been created. To me, you might as well keep a lion in your backyard and expect it never to get loose.