To think we're about to see an influx of XL Bully attacks after a rehoming free for all?

[SeattleSpacePlane]

So I know the ban is about to come in. Plenty for it, many against it. Not trying to start a debate about that!

Yesterday someone on my FB shared a post from a woman who was offering to rehome an XL to save it before the ban came in. Someone commented with a group for rehoming XLs before it's too late and banned and I clicked on it for a look.

I was absolutely gobsmacked by the posts on the group. Hundreds of posts going back weeks of XLs needing new homes (I suppose expected) - but a VERY high and panicked volume of posts over the past few days, as the ban approaches.

Lots of pictures of dogs with !!URGENT!! rehoming requests. From people asking on behalf of their friend, because their HA just told them XLs are banned under their tenancy, for the XL they just found abandoned behind Tesco, because they bred an XL litter this year and a buyer has just dumped an 8 month old pup back with them. Lots of reasons. Incredibly sad for the dogs, none of this is of their making.

But it's the reaponses. Comments and comments from people offering to rehome an XL to save them. Highlights were 'willing to take one but must be good with children as I have a 5 year old'. 'I wish I could have both but I'm in a flat so one is my limit, please contact me'. 'I have an XL already who is brilliant with the kids, happy to add another poor baby to our pack'.

Dogs are currently being panic-rehomed all over the Country. People are offering their services to transport the XL from Devon to the family in Yorkshire who've agreed to take it. No home checks, no behavioural checks of the dogs, people aren't even meeting the dog they're agreeing to home. Lots and LOTS being shipped to Scotland in particular where there's no ban.

It's truly frightening the amount of people with young dc agreeing to blindly rehome an XL to save them. I wouldn't rehome a bloody Yorkie without meeting the dog first never mind an XL!

This is going to end in tragedy, surely?

AIBU to think the ban on privately rehoming them should have been immediate at point of announcement to prevent this madness? And also that, sadly, we're likely to be reading several tragic stories in the coming weeks about one of these panic-rehomed dogs turning?

I agree with the ban. However they've been getting dumped for weeks and picked up by rescues, there hasn't been attacks from those dogs though. The owners who dumped these dogs are the problem owners. They will just move on to another bull breed. It hasn't helped the plight of dogs and won't protect the children living in those homes. There's been some madness in the rehoming offers, one woman with very young children offering to take a dog who has never been around children and has bitten once. We need to address breeding.

I fear there will be many incidents and sadly the victims won’t be the idiots offering to rehome the dogs but vulnerable children and other animals.

I have seen someone I know on Facebook this afternoon singing the praises of the enormous XL bully she has rehomed. She says he is great with her tiny grandchildren and her little toy breed dogs, cats and small furries. She is only petite herself and could do nothing if it turned at any point.

Unfortunately the owners who have these for the wrong reasons will move onto another breed. And it will happen all over again.

I live in Scotland and find the whole thing so horrific. May be an opinion that I'm completely thrashed for but I think any parent who allows one of these beasts anywhere near their child is negligent at best or just straight up doesn't love their child at all at worst.

I think this may happen also.

It’s not just a muzzle, the exemption certificate costs (IIRC) £90, they have to have insurance including 3rd party insurance which I imagine will have gone through the roof and many landlord including social housing won’t allow them anymore. I work with lots and lots of people through my job that have them and they can’t even feed themselves let alone pay for all that plus in all truthfulness, lots wouldn’t even be able to fill the forms in, so I’m not surprised they’re being dumped. I don’t see another way though with all the attacks that keep happening.

My concern is that some XL owners who haven't registered, chipped, neutered or ever taken their dog to the vet, will just abandon them with no traceability back to the owners. Although it's now illegal to abandon them, if the original owners don't want to be responsible owners and they know that they can't be traced, they won't care.

I believe the lady killed by an XL bully as she was walking dogs (she was a dog walker) had rehomed the dog just a few days before.

The first few weeks and months are going to be very stressful and with it being winter they'll be shut up inside due to the weather as well.

It's a recipe for disaster. I hope all of the children remain safe.

Such a difficult one this

I don't believe any breed are 100% safe

I have a family member with a beautiful pedigree breed golden retriever who weighs in excess of 50 kgs.

He's absolutely collosil and is such hard work on a lead with no recall

If he takes pace you've had it and the control is gone,yet he doesn't have to be muzzled

I know of a few smaller terrier type dogs and a springer near me that have attacked and bitten humans and other dogs badly. One women had her wrist broken and had to have surgery on her neck and face after a dog fight whereby she had no control of her pet and he lunged at another larger dog resulting In the fight that caused her injuries.

I get that xl bullies generally get into the wrong hands of irresponsible owners but there are many many irresponsible owners of average dogs

Because the owners don’t give a shit and don’t want to put the time and effort in. A rescue local to me had 19 up for ‘urgent’ adoption yesterday. They’ve generously offered to pay for the exemption fee, neutering and muzzle training, but they’ve basically given them to whoever will take them. They’ve got 1 left out of the 19 who has a known bite history and cannot have even visiting children to the house. They’re still trying to re home it, and these are the kind of dogs which led to the ban in the first place

What really worries me is the sheer number being brought up to Scotland because our idiot government have to do the opposite of England.

I saw numerous TikToks of people driving up with dogs & videos of people offering to foster & rehome them.

The number up here is going to rocket

I think we're more likely to see attacks in peoples homes from dogs who due to the lead and muzzle restrictions, lack of training classes, health insurance etc are in pain and unsocialised/not habituated to normal life... and the resultant behaviour problems that causes.

Which was likely the root cause of the fatalities that triggered this in the first place.

Anyone believing the ban will immediately result in a reduction in attacks/increase in human safety is... deluded.

I do hope the government will be forced to admit there are FAR more xl bully type dogs in the UK than they had assumed - it suited them to portray the breed/type as numerically small. That then suggests that the numbers involved in attacks are a high percentage of the breed as a whole, ie 'they're ALL savage dangerous beasts liable to kill you at a moments notice'..

The fact is there are thousands of them, if the 4000 figure for dogs already exempted is accurate, and we can reasonably assume a load more will be exempted that were not counted in that figure... and a load more that are not exempted yet and their owners won't because they have no intention of doing so, or have no idea they need to, have bought a puppy they do not realise they need to exempt etc...

We could easily see the true number being 10K... not the handful of dogs the government assumed existed.

People are already trying to get around it, for example this litter of "not XL bullies" that are blatantly XL bullies

https://www.gumtree.com/p/dogs/american-bulldogs-not-xl-bully/1471695000

Lots of ads online too for pocket bullies that are suspiciously large for something described as "pocket".

Absolutely and, on the whole, I do agree. However I much better fancy my chances of wrestling 99% of dog breeds off a child more than I could an XL bully.

This is my concern. Dumped dogs, scared and hungry is just a disaster waiting to happen.
We had two staffie type dogs go on the rampage in our village - attacked a man and bit his dog. Ended up with armed police chasing them across a field. Turned out they had been dumped - we are not far from a motorway and people had come off at the junction, driving into the village, chucked the dogs out of the car and rejoined the motorway at the next junction.

I live in Scotland and I have seen no less than 5 posts today on local FB pages asking for crate, harnesses etc for XL bullies that they have just adopted from down south. Everyone praising them for saving a life! I'm bloody terrified tbh it's a small town and just waiting on the worst happening.

There's one who lives across the street from me and I doubt his owner has the money for the fee - he can barely afford to feed himself by all accounts. He's also barely literate and wouldn't manage the forms. (Not judging - I just know because he's asked for help reading letters in the past)

I think his sister has dealt with all the admin for it so he can keep his dog but I guess there will be plenty in similar circumstances who don't have help.

The dog is actually really nice and well trained, and is the light of his owner's life!

This was so obviously going to happen. Well done Rishi 👏

An immediate ban would have caused absolute uproar. Being governed / policed only works as long as people allow it. At least he clearly realised that, the utter twonk.

What is a pocket bully?

You're not telling me all of these owners have been told to get rid due to a tenancy agreement! Most are just lazy bastards who haven't sorted registration and don't want to use a muzzle.

Imagine supposedly loving a dog but then getting rid because you've got to do a bit of timely paperwork and use an extra piece of equipment for walkies!

Absolute shits.

I can't believe the thugs who buy these dogs as weapons are being compensated for having them PTS. They should be paying to compensate everyone who has been attacked or intimidated.

It’s absolute madness someone I know has just taken in an XL bully he knows absolutely nothing about thankfully he has no children but he has a house full of other dogs. I saw a post from a vets telling people they will measure their dogs for them because if they are below a certain hight they aren’t classed as an XL bully so we are already getting people finding loopholes with the ban.

Wider than it is tall!

What would your suggestion be?

Because surely a 10 year plan would be at the cost of children’s safety in the meantime? As you say, policing & rules only works if people follow it.

Brilliant so Scottish bampots and gangsters can get cheap or free attack dogs.
Woopeedo.