To think having XL bullies around children is child neglect?

[Eaglemom]

To think that parents who have XL Bullies in the house with children should be investigated for child neglect. Its the same as leaving a child with a loaded gun to play with. What the hell is wrong with people that are willing to take this chance with their children’s lives?

It’s difficult to judge that all these cross breeds are dangerous. What about other dogs that can be dangerous?. Even pure bred ones if they are mishandled.

If a family is reported to SS because a neighbour has witnessed a dog being out of control, that’s different. Personally I think there’s something wrong with people who want these types of dogs. Even worse are the people who train them to be violent! There is not a mechanism for stopping breeding so it’s down to people being sensible about buying pets. We all know people are not sensible though so SS could be very busy.

I agree it’s difficult to judge which are and are not violent but that’s why these people are taking such a gamble on their children’s lives. They just don’t know for sure.
I wish they could be removed from every family home ASAP. Too many owners have blind faith in these dogs which is absolutely petrifying.
Seeing all the owners coming out with pictures and interviews about how great these dogs are with their kids is just horrifying.

Its hard to say when an XL bully is not actually a breed, rather a type, so there is huge variation in personality, build and strength within this type.
Saying that, however, I would NEVER leave any child unattended with any dog.
And I say this as a dog lover, who has a dog and a baby on the way. I trust my dog, he is well trained and soft but he will not interact with the baby. He will be taught to be neutral and ignore the baby. When baby starts moving and grabbing, I will never put my dog in a position where he is at risk of having to react.
Theres nothing I hate more than videos and pictures of dogs of any breed with children draped all over them

How are you going to hunt down these dogs? What law do we have at the moment to remove a dog that has done nothing? We don’t. I don’t like these dogs and I would not trust them. Ever. My friends DH bought a boxer/German Shepherd cross. It was horrible! Snarly barking thing. But who’s banning that? Awful dogs should be put down if they cannot be trained. But we have no law to make this happen.

@Daveismyhero I agree. Children and dogs should be kept separate.

You're not wrong, but since SS don't always intervene when parents are alcoholics or drug addicts, the chances of them investigating every home with a dangerous dog are pretty small.

I agree with you. Any dog and very young children are not a good mix.

I agree and I never believe the “I never leave my child and dog alone”crap- who can live like that in a home.

I do get genuinely scared for kids I see with clearly aggressive family dogs because I know how innocently and easily young kids can react/ lash out and how a dog can so easily switch

@TizerorFizz yes, it would be difficult and there is no law but I really think there should be. We can surely do better as a society than let innocent kids live with these ticking time bombs with no laws in place.

If that's the case then you would have to call up for every family with a large dog. Any large breed of dog can do the same damage as a bully.

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.

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.

@bonbon2023 there is a big difference between say a greyhound and an xl bully. Have you seen the statistics? They are the dogs killing more than any other. They are bred for aggression, once they attack they aim to kill, there is no retreat like with other breeds. The debate about owner or the temperament of the dog will rumble on… dog experts have explained why they are more likely than other breeds to kill and yes they often end up with unsuitable owners. It’s been proven owners can’t be trusted so why let them even be an option?
why have a dog even available that needs a huge amount of training to stop it wanting to kill other dogs or humans?

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.

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.

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.

@Shayisgreat well the law needs to change. I’m glad the ban is coming in but there are still going to be kids in homes with these dogs until they are fazed out.
I’d much rather have something in place that protects that “seems oppressive” than have any more humans ripped to shreds by one of these

@SalmonBelongInTheWater you’re right. It’s like a brick wall.

Bracing myself for the “chihuahuas bite too” comments.

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.

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

@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.

And there it is….. oh come on please stop this ridiculous comparison… you cannot be that stupid…my hamster also bit me once but that is no way comparable to a 9 stone dog with jaws that frigging strong.
For gods sake can you honestly not see the difference between being bitten by a small dog and a 9 stone XL bully? Really??????

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.

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.