FB friend of friend selling Pit Bull puppies?!

[snash12]

AIBU or are these dogs totally illegal in UK?

A friend on FB came up on my feed because she "liked" her friends post selling pit bull puppies for £250 each.

WIBU to report this? I mean to the police rather than FB.

[2bazookas]

"Belgian" probably means "Belgian Shepherd", another name for the Malinois breed. Malinois are short haired, fawn coloured.

So the short haired fawn pups are probably some Malinois/bull cross.

[DontBeRidiculous]

Oh. Zombo. Never mind.

[DontBeRidiculous]

I'd report, then the police (or whoever's in charge of such decisions) can determine what needs to happen.

[Flaxmeadow]

Sadly nothing has changed since this thread (2017)

[mygorgeousmilo]

Titiana it really was horrific. I remember being told what had happened and just shouting NO NO NOOOO like when someone does in a film. Still makes me shudder, and very conscious of that ability to ‘turn’ that dogs have.

[TitaniasCloset]

Mygorgeous that story about the little girl is horrific.

[Iwanttobe8stoneagain]

Unfortunately , as others have said the people who often buy these dogs esp off Facebook are likely to be exactly the type of people who can’t contril the dog. A responsible owner gets their puppy from a responsible breeder. These dogs are bred to fight and bite and commit max damage. There’s been loads of attacks on dogs recently in our local park by fighting/guarding breed types. Usually with the attacked dogs owner being injured. I think dogs should only be sold through people who both register themselves and the purchaser on a database setting out the breed etc. It should be illegal to sell a dog in December

[tabulahrasa]

"Can I ask a statistics question? When you look at dog attack fatalities, it goes:

1. Bully breeds and Rottweilers (more than half)
   
2. Huskies, Malamutes, Akitas and similar
   
3. Every other dog"
   

Where are you getting your statistics from? There aren't any reliable ones kept.

[mygorgeousmilo]

I have had/known two truly horrific experiences with these dogs, and would not hesitate to report. I lost a lot of sleep over the first one and it didn’t even happen to me. A friend of mine opened her front door and was in the hallway with her toddler daughter about to go out, when a staff x pit (the owner said), darted straight into their home and savaged her daughter. That dog was about 7-8 yo and had apparently never gone for anyone before. When I say savaged, I mean her face was hanging away from her skull. That small girl had to have firstly hours long surgery to reattach, then subsequent plastic surgery ops, and multiple surgeries on her neck/around her windpipe etc. They both had PTSD and had to move house, as even after she’d healed from the surgery, walking towards the front door sent them both into a terrified meltdown. The dog was out to sleep, the owner was sorry and got a slap on the wrist, but obviously couldn’t retrospectively get rid of that dog. My friend always regrets not reporting the dog in the first instance, as they’d seen it with the neighbour, but it had seemed to be placid and under control, until the day it “turned”. That wasn’t even on national news or anything, just a small section in the local paper! That whole thing made me sick with worry for that family, the mum was a nervous wreck for so long, and the poor little girls face is still slightly distorted and covered in scars. She has lost most of one ear. The second, less horrific thing that happened was to me. Still shows what these dogs are potentially like though. My friend got a pit bull puppy (legal there) when we were both ex pats, when its owner had needed to come back to the uk. When he told me on the phone I did raise and eyebrow and he said yes of course he knows they can be dangerous but it’s the way you raise them etc etc. So fast forward a few months, this pup is then about a year old but absolutely massive. I went to visit friend and his wife, I saw the dog in the living room and as I’m not scared of dogs or anything, just sort of turned as if to begin to greet it - it ran towards me and jumped so hard and fast that it knocked me over and I was then pinned down. Bear in mind this dog was about 1 so not even a fully grown adult dog, and I’m not some frail little thing. It had me pinned to the floor by standing on my chest and I’d sort of desperately turned my head to the side and it was snarling into my ear/neck/throat for what felt like an age. I’ve never been so terrified in my life, the size of its head and jaws, the low guttural sound of its snarling, and the heat of its breath - plus the sheer weight of its body was just the scariest thing ever. If it had decided to bite then that would have been the end of me, I’m sure of it. The other scary aspect was that nobody knew the best course of action. They didn’t want to touch it, and were trying to distract it and get him to go after a toy or something or other. They were calling it away in a sing song voice and it just wasn’t responding. I don’t know how long it was there for but eventually it lost interest and moved away, it was then locked out the back or wherever and I was given a stiff drink. I implored them to get rid of that dog and they insisted it was a one off, I mentioned obviously all the families around their property and the danger it posed. Imagine if it had done that to a kid that had screamed and wriggled, I could just sense that dog was waiting for a movement or something!! If I’d have moved it would have seen reason to attack, is the way I was thinking. They kept that bloody devil dog until my friends wife became pregnant, then of course it had to go as they “couldn’t risk it”.... right, but could risk it for others?! I am an animal lover but I don’t see why anyone would perpetuate a breed that’s know for ‘turning’ and has been bred specifically because of its tendencies of aggression and relentless ability for fighting. What is the point? Why would you buy one, why bring additional risk into people’s lives and environment? The BSL is an imperfect law, that’s for sure, but the idea that it’s unfair on the supposedly nice versions of this breed is just nonsense. Don’t buy them if this legislation is unfair. Don’t breed them. While I feel sorry for the dogs and pups born that will be put down through no fault of their own, the only way to stop this happening is to make it no longer worthwhile for people to buy and breed them.

[MyrandaRoyce]

Totally agree with MissCockerSpaniel FB, Instagram and Gumtree etc shouldn’t allow animal listings on their platforms.

[LoniceraJaponica]

If they are being advertised as pit bulls, but aren't surely they could be prosecuted under the trade description act?

Everyone knows that it is illegal to breed pit bulls, so it says a lot about the Facebook seller that they are either monumentally stupid or dishonest.

[mustbemad17]

The decision ultimately is yours OP, people can sit here & argue for or against all day long. If you do report them I'd advise not telling anybody connected that you have, just to be on the safe side.

[mustbemad17]

They're not even pit bulls. We don't have pit bulls as a breed in this country. We have 'types' - which also include your large labrador if the tape measure fits!!

[Missymoo100]

Op if you don't report anyone could buy those pups... they could easily end up as fighting dogs, condemned to a life of misery and torture. I know people feel sorry for the pups but this is the reality of the pot bill- they don't attract responsible owners, they are likely to end up in cruel dog sports.

[mustbemad17]

Magenta you are incorrect. The police do just swoop in & seize dogs. And the process for exempting a dog - even pups - can take years. Years of being stuck in a dingy kennel with little to no exercise, or human contact. Liklihood is they would probably go nuts. Be kinder to round them all up now & take them to the vet to be PTS. People need to make sure they know what they are talking about before making such comments

[Oysterbabe]

Definitely report!
Everyone knows pitbulls are an illegal breed. The kind of people that see a pit puppy advertised and want it are the kind of people who want it as a status symbol or fighting dog. The police will PTS if necessary which would be a kindness in comparison to some of the alternatives these pups will face.

[FaintlyBaffled]

I'm a dog owner, have worked dogs professionally in a past life, taken in a variety of rescue dogs, owned several Rottweilers and now a batshit crazy Staffie cross.
In your shoes OP I would report. It's sad for the puppies but ultimately they are unlikely to go to a home where they will live long, happy, healthy and fulfilled lives
And yes, anyone who willingly advertises puppies as PB's and sells them less than three weeks before Christmas, deserves to lose the money they were clearly hoping to pocket from their irresponsible actions.
As a PP said, there's worse things that could happen than the puppies are quietly and humanely PTS

[LittleRedWagon1]

The other point I'm trying to make is that it was a big, 'scary' doberman, a protective breed, a breed in some areas of the US are on the dangerous dogs list that saved my DD1 from a life of fear around dogs.


Sorry I'm rambling, I'm tired and have been up most of the night for no apparent reason!

[MagentaRocks]

Report, the police won’t just swoop in and put the dogs to sleep. There are checks that have to be done and then it goes for a court to decide.

[LittleRedWagon1]

Sorry posted too soon.......

The point I'm trying to make it, please don't condemn these puppies on the idiotic description of someone on FB. They absolutely do not look like PB's to me, they look like a proper Heinz 57 variety.

The fence part........
I can absolutely understand the reasoning's of both sides on this thread though because if I had gotten my hand's on that fucking poodle I would have rung it's bloody neck in front of the stupid, ineffective owner, who incidentally was a little old lady!!

[LittleRedWagon1]

I'm going to get a few splinters in my arse from this post, but here goes.

My DD1 was bitten, badly, on her leg when she was 4 years old, by a miniature poodle. This scared her, not just physically but emotionally. At the time we had two crossbreed dogs (staffy/JRT cross and a Doberman cross) they were the most docile, sweet, gentle dogs I have ever known. We had had the dogs for 8/9 years prior to having our DD's so our DD's had grown up with them from the moment we came home from the hospital.

DD1 was not at all scared of our two after this attack from a bloody poodle. However she developed PTSD regarding unknown dogs (Diagnosed by LA child therapist). She would suffer such bad panic attacks on just spotting a dog, even on a lead, while we were out that we became almost housebound.
After our two dogs had to be PTS within 16 mo of each other (they were old, 17 & 18, and both had cancer) DH and I obviously decided no more dogs due to DD1's pure, unadulterated fear of unknown dogs.

A few moths after loosing the dogs DD1 met a Doberman Pincsher who was so lovely, gentle and sweet with her that it was the first time in a long time that DH and I had seen her with an unknown dog and not suffer a panic attack. It didn't take DD1 long time to start asking for another dog, specifically a Doberman. After a lot of research, thinking time and a long search for a bred specific dog (DH and I always had cross breeds/heinz 57's prior to having the DD's).

Almost a year after losing our JRT/Staff cross we got our current dog, she is now 10mo and just as sweet, loving, gentle doberman as the one that DD1 met all those months ago. This crazy, excitable bundle of giant paws, floppy ears and lots of skin to grow into mended our DD1.

[Jonsey79]

I can't believe some of the responses on here. The type of person who buys a pit bull (even if it's not actually a pit bull at all) off a Facebook seller a couple of weeks before Christmas is hardly going to be a responsible dog owner. They're far more likely to be the type of arsehole who wants an aggressive, status symbol dog.

Don't report them though because the puppies are innocent

Ffs. Yes of course the puppies are innocent and yes dog ownership and breeding laws are indeed shambolic, but come on. What if one of those dogs ends up going for a child?

I'm going to do a nationwide marketplace search and will report it myself if I can find the ad.

[Amanduh]

Absolutely report. If they can prove they're not pits then they won't be killed. If they are, well, I can't believe people just think it's fine to let random people own potentially dangerous, illegal dogs they picked up on facebook. As for the 'it's how you bring them up' article, rubbish. There are plenty of well loved, well behaved and trained dogs that have sadly one day suddenly just gone for someone.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

Can I ask a statistics question? When you look at dog attack fatalities, it goes:

1. Bully breeds and Rottweilers (more than half)
   
2. Huskies, Malamutes, Akitas and similar
   
3. Every other dog
   

So how can the ban on Pit Bulls have prevented no deaths? Less 1. breeds means less deaths, surely? Even if you disagree with the law...

[Chrys2017]

I agree user1490816984 but the Dangerous Dogs Act came into force more than 25 years ago so there's really no good reason for these banned breeds to even exist in this country any more.

As your story highlights, they are always at risk of being accused and the owners have very few rights once a dog is reported. Even if that doesn't happen, they have to be muzzled at all times in public and kept on a lead. I don't think there's really any good reason to choose that breed of dog unless you want a dog that will intimidate people.

I'm sorry to hear what happened to your innocent dog. Your stepdad probably did the right thing as she would have been quarantined and kept in a cage on her own for months on end while the police 'investigated'.