American Bully XL to be banned by end of year

[SunshineHello]

Rishi Sunak has just announced these dogs are to be banned.

Good riddance - who needs a big aggressive dog like that? It’s hardly a family pet.

I do however suspect the ven diagram of ‘people that own an American Bully XL’ and ‘people who will be interested in following this law’ may have a limited overlap however.

@EasternStandard yes it will. it would have been bad enough seeing it if it was 1 dog attacking but the poor bloke had no chance with 2. alot of passersby wanted to help bt obviously were terrified of getting bitten. i couldnt do anything as i was in my flat alone with my 11.5mo son. the 3 men who were trying to help are heroes in my opinion as those dogs had lost it after the first taste of blood. their muzzles were covered. i dont care about what anyone says they should all be killed, theres already been attacks in the midlans, two of them on a 10yo boy and an 11yo girl. im sorry but no dog is worth it

Good. Prepare for people to bleat on about 'It's not the dogs, it's the owners' but it's both. I've had dogs for years, I've been heavily involved in dog sports, and I've seen experienced and v responsible dog owners unable to manage certain dogs due to their breeding or temperament, so even in the 'right hands' XL Bullies can end up being a weapon. And it's very unlikely the kind of people owning them are responsible and experienced and well-educated dog owners. Or breeding them responsibly. In-breeding, no health testing, bad genetics, no temperament testing. Just churning them out.

We were walking in towm the other day, me, DD(4) and DD (14mo in pram). We are all used to dogs, we have a dog, both DC are very confident with dogs. We walked past a woman with an XL Bully - trhankfully she had a tight hold of it as it lunged at us, snarling. My 4yo got one hell of a fright, I grabbed her and pulled her behind me, and I've been thinking what would have happened if the owner hadn't had a firm hold of the lead and it had got free? I know a lot about dog body language and this dog was aggressive. It's been almost a week and I still keep thinking what if it had got free and gone for one of my DC, what would I do? Would I block my 4yo and try to push the pram away? Would I tell 4yo to run and stand in front of the pram? Ironically, it was called BABY. Baby FFS. The woman was like 'Oh be nice, Baby'. Fucking brute of a thing. People shouldn't have to be thinking about shit like this on a walk down the town high street.

We have hundreds of dog breeds that are suitable for domestic living and family pets already. These are not.

Oh for gods sake

Good. There was an academic on the radio just now and he said the dangerous dogs act has been successful in reducing attacks by those breeds compared to countries that have not banned those dogs.

I have no time for the 'deed not breed' argument. We all know that animals can be bred for temperament and these dogs are bred from fighting stock.
And these dogs are massive! if you are attacked you are going to be much more seriously injured, or dead, before anyone can get the dog off you.

@Sux2buthen wonder if youd be the same if it was a member of your family getting killed by one

So its a just a large bull terrier? How can you ban all those? I live in a village full of middle class dog-rescuing types and every other dog around here is either a greyhound or a staff.

I've been reading about the breed. Just to say - I'm not a dog person whatsoever but I think what Rishi has said is absolute bullsh*t as to define the breed is very difficult given the amount of crossbreeding that goes on in order to get the 'right' characteristics. The 'ban' won't be worth the paper it's written on as a lot of the dogs pictured to have committed these horrific attacks won't fit the traditional definition of an XL bully.

Overdue. If I see one of these dogs, I don't just cross the road, I get out of the area. But I shouldn't have to do that. People should not have to live in fear of their lives every time they walk down the street or in the local park. Sunak says the ban will come in "by the end of the year". Meanwhile another man was mauled to death yesterday by XL bullies. You might as well let people keep tigers as pets (though tigers are better looking).

Finally. Dog fighting is illegal, so there is no legitimate reason to own a fighting dog.

@Tomatina yes thats the man i saw get killed. its fucking ridiculous to have to be scared to walk down a street because of an animal

There are currently 44 pages of XL Bully’s for sale on Pets4homes - unbelievable!

Brilliant news. Horrible dogs

@NoLongerATeacher half those dogs look completely different to each other

Im a dog owner and I’ve never seen one of these dogs anywhere in real life, so I’m wondering who actually owns them and where they all are? They’ve definitely not caught on here yet.

That's my concern too.

Hope we are wrong.

Surely rescue centres shouldn’t be rehoming these dogs? A bully XL from a rescue centre must be a huge red flag for possible mistreatment before rescue and thus at greater risk of attacking someone?

At last, Rishi does something sensible!

Because most of the time they aren’t walked like normal pet dogs.
Kept in unsuitable backyards or flats with limited exercise and socialisation.

Then, when they escape or are taken out. The inevitable happens.

You can't walk the street without meeting one where I live but they never seem to stick in the same home for longer than 2 years which makes me suspicious that breeders are using people to puppy walk them until they are wanted as guard dogs or for breeding.
I'm not usually in favour of breed bans but no one needs a dog that powerful.

I think the link someone else posted with the list of restricted and banned dogs in Ireland was great.

There was a long list of requirements if your dog was on the restricted list and other ones if the dog was on the banned list.

It is unlikely they will be allowed now. The DDA makes it illegal to rehome or sell any dog on the banned breed list.

Same here. It's all labs and spaniels and a couple of (lovely) GSDs. I think it's mostly in cities.

This is a classic example. One of these is an xl bully, two are cross breeds, 5 are pedigree of another (currently allowed) set of breeds.

How would you differentiate?

Our lovely little village is all spaniels, labs, the odd Newfie etc. But go 20 mins to the big town and there's loads of big bull-type breeds. It's got much more deprived pockets.

”Deed not breed” is bollocks.

If you want a dog to herd your sheep, you buy a collie.

If you want a dog to pick up game you get a spaniel or retriever.

If you’re in the police and you want a prey-driven dog for bitey work, you breed a Malinois or a GSD.

We all accept that dogs have breed traits, and these dogs have been bred for aggression and desire to attack. They are not family pets and anyone who owns one with children wants their head examining.

The difficulty will be how on earth you ban a dog that is a “type” rather than a breed.

Personally I think it should also be illegal to own a dog with cropped ears. It’s illegal to crop them in the UK, but not illegal to import them.