31 Jan XL dogs still not always muzzled in public

[EveryoneEnviesMeEverywhere]

Near a primary school in London, I saw a lady walking his very large XL Bully dog that was UNMUZZELED. The dog was on one of those extending leashes that I doubt could manage a dog of that size. and I doubt the lady could mange the big dog is the dog decided to run at someone or another dog. The schools finish for the day around that time. I was disgusted by the blatant breach of the law and would have rang the non-emergency police number but I could not work out which house he went into as he kept on giving death stares to people who were looking at him, namely some parents on their way to pick up their 4/5-year-olds.

I just had a chat with my OH and we both agreed these dogs are potentially dangerous, hence the new laws rightly so. We therefore decided to report them and just did that.

We both believe we are doing a public service as often people that take these dogs for a walk don't appear to be capable of handling the big dog/s if the dogs decide to go for another dog or even a human. Sadly we've seen and heard a lot about this kind of thing that has resulted in the new laws

I wish I had the guts to film her or at least walk a bit closer (I was fearful of the dog) right behind her and see what door he entered

(For the record the dog appeared to be behaving but they are alert and look around at everything and to me it looks scary. I guess if I had own own little dog I would not be scared but we would not keep one as I know it is a full-time job as dogs should be treated like family)

AIBU.
Report this brazen lawbreaker. IMO, if more of us reported incidents like this, our towns/cities and all public areas would be a lot safer for all of us.

I genuinely fear dogs on the whole especially big ones of the bully types especially and those little ankle snappers. On the whole, from what I have seen in parks and on walks, the Labrador-type dogs are pretty down-to-earth creatures and I don't mind them. from a distance (I know many out there love dogs, especially their own dog/pet rightly so, but please do not forget not everyone likes a dog running up to them and sniffing them etc)

(Slightly different but loose dogs in parks, any types of dogs that are allowed to run up to you, your baby etc I find really scary and often the owners could not care less. IMO, all dogs should be on a leash in public and not those stupid leads that extend by 30 feet or so)

That's a big post to say you've reported a unisex dog owner.

If they live near the school and you are regularly there then get ready to film and watch where they go. It's all you can do.

Unisex dog owner 🤣🤣🤣

Are you 100% certain of the breed?

I think you mean agender non-binary 🤷🏻‍♀️😉

The only time I've ever seen one out and about was the week after they were supposed to be muzzled , it was taking some idiot bloke for a walk muzzle free

I’ve never seen these monsters in person as I don’t live near people like that but YANBU to report.

That is a very valid point, the dog taking the owner for a walk.
Thankfully. where we live, not seen a XL type dog

Come the summer, warmer, longer days and we often go to the river for a walk, many dog walkers there and that may be the testing time to see how many owners are following the rules

A law without enforcement makes a mockery of the law

Yanbu. One near us but not seen since this all appeared in news. Prior to all this the size of it made me wary. They are huge, I means huge.

How do you know it was an XL Bully? Did you have the extensive criteria to hand, including the ones which require precise measurements?

Hello

As far as I can be as I recall reading how to measure one of the dogs and this one had all the traits and appearance of one and this was a really big dog.

The dog looked like the one in the picture but bigger and had a bit more meat on it

https://burnley.gov.uk/environmental-problems/dogs/dangerous-dogs/american-xl-bullies/

Many owners of what will be considered XL Bully type are convinced their dog is not 'type' - some of them are right, some are wrong, some are genuinely convinced and some know damn well their dog should be exempted, muzzled, etc.

Unfortunately, what is and is not an XL bully is and always will be, a matter of opinion. The only opinion that counts is the DLO who assesses the dog - and a dog can be assessed by one DLO as not type, and by the next one as type...

Whilst the rules on exemption, what is and is not type, how to go about it, seem simple to many, I suspect it is not simple to a lot of owners.

These are often people who assume 'paperwork' and 'registered' mean a dog is universally recognised as a pedigree breed - and thus see no difference between a UK Kennel Club registered Dogue De Bordeaux, and a Old Tyme Bulldogge Club registered OTB... (Similarly people believe a Cockerpoo with Dog Lovers Registration Club paperwork is as legitimately 'a pedigree dog' as a Cocker or a Poodle with KC paperwork..)

So when the government said that 'recognised breeds are not XL bullies'... that caused HUGE confusion and in some eyes, loopholes, for owners of dogs registered with other registries, crossbreeds of breeds not recognised here (American Bulldogs, Cane Corsos) and dogs they bought in the free ads listed as 'American Bully X Labrador'.

Report.

Don't expect rapid action to be taken however if you can't supply an address and are not reporting an incident beyond 'I saw this dog and think it should have been muzzled' - police resources are poor, if they seized every unmuzzled dog they will run out of places to put them in a week.

It was absolutely massive and really untrained. I live in an area where MN seem to think there would be loads of them but there seems to be more shih tzus then anything else !

Does it matter? If the police DLO assesses it and decides it’s not type then everyone just moves on with their lives. No harm.

Some look to be of type but aren’t. Only professionals can really tell, that’s why many owners whose dog met the basic measurements were to exempt and then apply to Defra to have the dog professionally measured and typed and taken off the register if necessary.

I mean did you have a tape measure out? 🤔

There's one near us that is always muzzled on walks, even before the ban. The owner is a lady in her 50's and she always seems to have a younger man and lady with her, my husband made an off the cuff comment saying 'maybe the dog has history and that's why three people walk it' and honestly I don't think that three people would stop it if it did go for somebody even with a muzzle.

They are awful dogs.

You reported them for it. So there you go, you've done what you can. I certainly wouldn't confront them about it. It's worth noting that you can't really say, in any meaningful way, that any dog is inherently more dangerous now than it was a few months ago prior to the ban. If anything the most dangerous/ un-cared for ones would probably have been euthenised post ban as there was a payment of £200 for people agreeing to that.
I would say unless I see a dog acting aggressively, I would just ignore it and assume it was under control and trained sufficiently to be out in public. I guess I'm not scared of dogs though so it's a bit different.

Did I have a "tape measure"

What I do have is the ability to decide if something is not right and the knowledge of what I should be looking for. This not was 99% XL Bully type and trust me if the dog had an off day, that lady or even a relatively strong male would not be able to keep it under control.

Therefore, take the P as your type of post just makes me feel better that I have reported someone who is very likely to be breaking the law. Sadly, there will be little action from the police unless other reports go out and may have their exact address is known. We did not live there but were up there to pick up grandkids and you have to park a good five-minute walk from the school if you want to prk within the rules

Payment for euthanasia covered costs of euth and cremation up to £200 if accompanied by a receipt from vet practice - it wasn’t compensation for loss of pet.

Hello all

TBH, your posts have helped and I'm glad many understand how I feel and why we did this and why we fear these dogs

TBH, if it was left to me, I'd be buzzingly some owners as some appear to use this type of do to make them look big

As I said I, my family are generally scared of dogs and one has been bitten in a public place. However, via my work I visited people in their homes, there are many good owners and treat their pets like family. Even without owning a dog, I know for a fact a dog is very, very loving and caring and more so I feel that some owners are the ones that need looking at.

IMO a licence should be required for all potential dog owners to see if they are a fit persons to manage looking after a dog caring and loving way.

The most Mumsnet sentence ever typed.

@Patchworksack I know, but I felt it might have encouraged people with problem dogs to go down that route, rather than the registration/ muzzle side. I guess the person in OPs post was not complying with the rules either way. So reporting them was fair enough. I personally wouldn't unless I saw the dog acting aggressive.

IMO a licence should be required for all potential dog owners to see if they are a fit persons to manage looking after a dog caring and loving way.

All dogs used to be licensed. It didn't stop people abusing or neglecting them or stop attacks on people.

could not work out which house he went into as he kept on giving death stares to people who were looking at him who the dog? Or the lady who has decided to be a him?

Sorry all the genders and his/he lady has confused me too much to care about the rest of the story

@EveryoneEnviesMeEverywhere Pmsl you sound …TBH you sound unhinged but I’ll explain.

The first criteria in typing a dog is measuring it at the withers. Hence the tape measure. But you’re clearly the rude expert.