AIBU to feel sorry for the 100 dogs a month destroyed since the XL Bully ban

[Locutus2000]

I hate the whole XL Bully thing, they are a travesty against nature and the primary market appears to be antisocial idiots (not all owners obviously).

But I also love animals, especially dogs, and to hear the police are destroying an average of one hundred banned breeds a month is upsetting. They are still (arguably) sentient beings who experience pain and fear, many will have been mistreated. They didn't ask for some dickhead to fuck with their genes and make them potential monsters.

I'm quite happy for the breeds to be eliminated. I still feel sorry for the innocent dogs losing their lives whilst the breeders and owners usually seem to walk away without consequence.

AIBU to feel this way?

I feel sad too.
A dog being shot by police after it has attacked is different to a happy and healthy one being taken to the vets to be PTS just on account on the type of dog it is. It must take an emotional toll on the staff.

I remember a post on here by a vet nurse who said an XL bully was brought in to be PTS. The owner was homeless, as due to lack of address, could not get a exemption for his dog. He was distraught at having have his dog destroyed.

I agree, and I think they didn't go for a cull because they're scared that they can't enforce it when all these "he's just a sweetheart really" types show their true colours and wind up their dogs then point them at the people enforcing the law.

What a disgusting waste of public money. Just shoot the lot of those dogs

I saw on the BBC that they had thought when the ban came in that there were only around 10,000 XL bullies in the UK, but over 50,000 were registered! The numbers are huge.

I think they should all be put down personally and I say that as a dog lover. They should never have been allowed, they just have too much potential to be dangerous.

Weren't you the same poster saying on another thread that you thought it was reasonable for dog shelters to carry out very extensive home checks and vetting of owners? How do you reconcile that with this? Do you really think a homeless man with no fixed address and likely not enough income to meet the dog's medical needs would make a good dog owner for a massive fuck off dog that can kill people when he can't actually provide a home for it, is unlikely to walk it very much, and therefore can't meet its needs, and can't control its environment to keep the general public safe? I certainly don't want one of those dogs sitting outside my local Nisa day in day out getting no exercise and likely inappropriate food.

Figures for 2023 were 1,784 homeless dogs of all breeds destroyed each month in the UK.
That figure will get worse, simply because we have more dogs year on year.

I did wonder if things were changing when I heard recently on here about a dog that had attacked someone being euthanized very quickly by a police marksman.
The news that 100 dogs a month are being destroyed makes me feel more optimistic that this menace might one day be over.
There is also now a clear roadmap to be followed in the (probably very likely) event that a similar dog takes the place of the xlb.

I think it's sad that individual animals have been bred only to be put down too, it's a situation which should never have happened. Idiot breeders and idiot owners with facile arguments about 'there are only bad owners'.

The risks with these dogs is just too high and the "breed" needs to die out. They can't be rehomed and a life in kennels is actually more cruel to them than PTS humanely.

I feel really sad about it, too. Those poor dogs and the poor vets have to euthanaise all those perfectly healthy dogs. What must it be doing to their mental health? I do agree with the ban, though, but it's the dogs and vets that suffer.

I don't think you're unreasonable, but sometimes you have to do things that you then feel sad about.

I would agree that there should be consequences for the people who created these dogs so that it's less likely we have to do something like this again in the future.

I feel for the people e.g. working in rescues and vets, who have to be involved in putting them down. I guess for the dogs, they don't know what's happening, but the people do - it must be heartbreaking for them.

Cull 'em all, asap. Vile abominations. I feel sorry for the cows, sheep, pigs, chickens etc that are slaughtered in barbaric conditions with zero thought, yet they are not the beasts going round mauling and maiming people. These dogs will get an injection, and be none the wiser about what is happening.

Shame they don't put down the idiot owners

Same emotional toll as abattoir workers - do you feed your dog meat, are you contributing the the meat industry, and therefore the emotional toll on those abattoir workers is on you (and most dog "lovers").

No reason to feel sorry for them if they're euthanized humanely. It also costs money to house them indefinitely.

I don't feel particularly sad about it, no. The bottom line is that they're dangerous. It's simply risk management and is a humane ending vs what a lot of animals go through around the world.

Well said 👏🏻
If you own a dog or other carnivorous pet you are part of the big meat ponzi scheme.
I speak as a vegetarian, although not for moral reasons, more that the idea of eating flesh revolts me.

I feel for the vets indeed any instance where they are having to end an animal's life.

My sadness is that the ban has not been accompanied by a very simple law change- if your dog (or other pet) harms someone, it should be as if you harmed them yourself. Manslaughter charges if death happens.

People go into abattoir work knowing full well what it entails. Their sole role is the slaughter. There is also footage out there of workers abusing the animals.

Vets do the opposite... they keep animals healthy and alive. Vets know they have to put animals to sleep, but in the vast majority of those cases it is because the animal is poorly and it is the best thing. Having a happy and healthy dog come in to be PTS must be hard for the staff.

Animals don’t know it’s their last day alive when they are pts. They live in the now, not the past or future. I think a lot of animals are kept alive when it would be kinder for them to be pts. I’m thinking of horse sanctuaries with very elderly horses who have multiple health conditions, can barely eat, are in constant pain and are kept going.

That’s a good point and also some people keep rats as pets too.

YANBU, it's not the poor bloody dogs' fault, but the idiots who bred them and the even bigger idiots who want the dogs and create the demand for them.

Vets know PTS is part and parcel of the role. Don't be obtuse.

You didn't answer the question about whether you eat meat, and feed meat to your dog. Will assume you do. There is no difference in morality between killing dogs and killing farmed animals. I will save my sorrow for those strung up and circulating on the abattoir machinery, rather than bull breed beasts who kill humans.

Are you vegan? Because if not, I have news for you - animals are bred to be put down, every day, for meat eating humans. Now that you can do something about! Will you?