To report my neighbours XL bully, it is ruining my life

[TheLangyers]

I’m 14 weeks pregnant. Me and my partner currently live on quite a rough council estate as we are saving up for a house deposit. Won’t be able to move for another couple of years.

Our next door neighbour has an XL bully. I am usually a dog lover but feel really uneasy about these dogs. My mum was a dog walker for a few years and I got bit by a pit-bull and repeatedly witnessed incidents involving them. My childhood best friend was left with lifelong facial scares after her rescue pitbull randomly decided to bite her face off during a game of fetch.

The XL bully hasn’t personally attacked us yet but it’s been involved in several incidents. It’s been known to get in fights on the local field with other dogs on the estate but owner insists it’s always the other dog’s fault. She leaves it unattended in the front garden, gate is usually closed but it could easily jump over. My partner doesn’t understand the danger that these dogs present and often encourages it to come over to stroke it when we go out. Our walls are very thin and I know from overhearing domestic arguments that it’s bitten the owners autistic grandson before when they’ve been playing.

She often walks 2 minutes the road to another friend’s house and doesn’t bother muzzling or leashing it for this as it’s a short walk. It just runs down the road in front of her. For proper walks it’s on a leash but no muzzle as it “doesn’t like a muzzle.” She often moans to be that she’s suspicious that people on the estate will “snitch” on her so she tries to walk early morning or late at night.

Being pregnant I’ve been a lot more cautious and try to only go out when my partner can give me a lift - I can’t drive. However an incident today has left me terrified. I was on the road in front of our house at lunchtime cleaning the car and they come out to walk to the friend’s house. It jumps on my back trying to be friendly and lick me - this dog weighs 70kg. I froze and was terrified and she didn’t pull him off, she just kept shouting its name until it ran to her and they left.

It’s really starting to ruin my life and my partner doesn’t care as he just thinks it’s a funny, goofy big dog. He always brings up my parent’s cockerpoo as an example as occasionally nips at people when it is guarding food but the difference is that a cockerpoo isn’t capable of killing a healthy adult, and a cockerpoo usually will bite once then back off. XL bullies generally are genetically wired to try to kill and could turn at any moment.

I’ve now fallen out with my mum too as she’s very worried about mine and the baby’s safety and she says we should look at private renting somewhere else until we can afford to buy. This annoyed me as we only pay £500 a month rent at the moment and if we were to move to another private rental it’d be hundreds
more and we would lose a load to our savings to moving costs. I don’t see why we should have to do this. My mum says I’m putting money over my baby’s safety and has become angry at me. I feel like I can’t win.

I want to report as she’s breaking the law letting it out unleashed and unmuzzled but I’m concerned that the neighbour would know it’s me after the incident today and make my life hell. She is somewhat unhinged, nice enough on a shallow level, will invite you in for a cuppa and chat to you etc bit get on the wrong side of her and she’s as rough as a bears arse and will get family members to bang on your door etc. Police have been called before when she’s had disputes with another neighbour about rats in the garden. I hate confrontation and really don’t know what to do.

any advice appreciated

Would your landlord/lady put in a complaint? It's going to affect who they can rent the house out to.

Report it, please. It's endangering you and everyone else who lives nearby.
Follow up the safeguarding report you've made about the child.
And honestly, your partner sounds a bit thick.

XL Bullies are NOT 'wired to kill at any moment'. Please don't become one of those people. This is someone's pet. Unless you have concrete evidence that the dog poses a danger - and they usually don't, it's usually a human who has trained them to be dangerous - please don't ruin other people's lives. Are you sure you are not just being overly cautious because you are pregnant? If so, it's really unfair. Stop buying into the myth that all these dogs are dangerous.

Unless you have concrete evidence that the dog poses a danger - and they usually don't, it's usually a human who has trained them to be dangerous - please don't ruin other people's lives
Did you miss the bit where it bites its owner's 4 grandson?

Take photos of the dog in the garden and being walked un leashed and un muzzeled, then report it, It could easily jump the fence and attack a child, anyone could report it.

Under UK law as of February 1, 2024, it is a criminal offence to have an XL Bully dog in a public place unmuzzled and off a lead.
GOV.UK +1
While a private, fully enclosed garden is generally considered private property, a front garden that is accessible to the public—such as one without a secure, high fence or gate preventing entry or escape—may be treated as a public place under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

• Blue Cross +1

What to Do If you see an XL Bully unmuzzled and unleashed in a front garden that allows them to escape or roam, or if they appear to be creating a dangerous situation, you should report it to the police. If you believe the dog is not properly exempted, the owner may be facing criminal charges, an unlimited fine, and the dog may be seized.

Did you not read the OP? The dog bit the owners grandson.

All dog breeds are not blank slates. Some breeds have been selected over time for aggression. Pit bulls which are connected to XL bullys were originally breed to fight other dogs that’s how they came about, so of course on the whole they’re going to be more aggressive than the average dog. Just like herding dogs like collies show behaviour that will would make them good at herding etc.

You may wish to strip metadata (exif, gps etc) from the photos before you share them. You can do this online or using an app. Without doing this, it is easy to identify when, where and by what device they were taken.

À cocker poo can have cocker rage and could disfigure a child. I think it's valid to be worried about your neighbours dog, but it's actually more likely that your child would be hurt by the grandparents dog.
Your neighbour needs to keep her dog more secure and on a lead when out and you could do with making your garden more secure if the dog gets over the fence.

There’s some stupid points in the thread regarding DNA and I agree that dogs are not somehow genetically predisposed to particular bite patterns. But regardless, the owner of this dog is not following the law re leashing and muzzling, she’s not trained the dog not to jump up at people and the dog has injured a child at least once. The owner is at fault and that’s what needs to be reported. If she cares about her pet the best way to keep it safe is to follow the law and be seen to be doing so.

So sorry to hear youre having all this worry. I live in a rough area too, its hard when you want out but feel trapped. If I was you I'd move. It will hold up your goal of buying somewhere, but do you really want to be living next to trash like this when you have your baby. What about when they start toddling and your maybe in the garden. You'll constantly be on edge with that dog and its owners next to you. Even when these people get reported, they dont change, usually they get worse...defo move

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Wrong about breed behaviour - that's not a myth. Wrong about evidence - both OP and neighbour's grandson have already been assaulted by this dog. Wrong about being unfair - it is unfair that this dog is restricting OP's life, costing the rest of us in paying for A&E visits and potential police involvement, and putting the wider community at risk.

I'm a dog lover, but wouldn't trust one of these breeds which are bred for aggression. They are a ticking time bomb. Your partner is incredibly and dangerously stupid not to see the dangers. If I were you I'd move in with your mum until the danger is removed. I'd also reconsider whether your partner is going to be a responsible parent.

Maybe nothing was done because they said that it was somebody else's dog that bit the child? They would never admit that their dog did it.

They aren't going to destroy a dog because it 'might' hurt you accidentally. It's never shown aggression towards you and you have no idea what happened with the child.

My child has been bitten by a family members dog and it was 100% DSs fault. He was messing about with the dog, encouraging it to jump on him, roll about and grab toys he was waving about for it. It missed the toy and got his hand. Complete accident.

Is your partner being deliberately disingenuous do you think? Is he trying to wind you up? It just sounds so bizarre that he is acting like this, he knows they have been banned doesn’t he? And he knows about all the attacks….

There's a bit of a XLs are going to kill everyone they meet/XLs are lovely big babies binary on this thread. I'd argue that if you are one of those who really likes XLs and argues that it's mainly the owner, then you should absolutely encourage the OP to report. I have a bully breed (not an XL) and it's owners like this one who let the dog jump up, don't muzzle, don't keep it secure that make life much more difficult for all bully breed owners, particularly the XL owners who are responsible (and there are some about).

Report it @TheLangyers Don't even think twice about it. And get your parents to get their dog some training.

From 2023:

Public awareness of the American Bully problem has grown in recent months, spurred by some especially horrific attacks, as well as a widely-read article by legal academic and YouTuber Lawrence Newport. Lawrence looked at the data on dog attacks and observed that ‘a notable pattern emerges. In 2021, two of the four UK fatalities were from a breed known as the American Bully XL. In 2022, six out of ten were American Bullies. In 2023, so far all fatalities appear to have been American Bullies.’

American Bullies, Newport explains, ‘are a breed resulting from modern mixes of the American Pitbull Terrier. They are known for very high muscle mass, biting power, and impressive strength, and come in several variations. Those that are bred for the greatest strength, weight and size are known as a part of the American Bully XL variety.’

Pitbulls are banned in Britain for a good reason, and in the US are responsible for ‘60–70 per cent of dog fatalities’; yet under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 ‘the American Bully XL is currently permitted.’

What is surprising, Newport writes, is that ‘if you argue these dogs are dangerous, you will get a flood of comments from people…saying it’s the owner’s fault, not the dog’s. You might even be thinking this yourself, right now. But this is wrong. While many Brits would contend that ‘Guns American Bully XL’s don’t kill people, people do’, the reality is different.

‘Labradors retrieve. Pointers point. Cocker Spaniels will run through bushes, nose to the ground, looking as if they are tracking or hunting even when just playing – even when they have never been on a hunt of any kind. This is not controversial. Breeds have traits. We’ve bred them to have them.’

Pitbulls were created for bull-baiting, and when that was banned, they came to be bred to hunt down rats in a locked pen. ‘This required more speed, so they were interbred with terriers to make Pitbull Terriers. In addition to this, they began to be used for dog fighting: bred specifically to have aggression towards other dogs, and to be locked in a pit to fight (some are still used for this today). These were dogs likely kept in cages, away from humans, and bred for their capacity to earn money for their owners by winning fights. These were not dogs bred for loyalty to humans, these were dogs bred for indiscriminate, sustained and brutal violence contained within a pit.’

One reason for the widespread denial about breed violence might be simple animal sentimentality, a particular trait of the British. Newport cites the case of two American Bully types recently shot by police, an incident which led to a million signatures on a petition calling for the officers to be prosecuted, even though the dogs had attacked other dogs and had previously attacked at least one person: ‘Not only this but the woman who had her dogs attacked by the pair said she was “mortified” that they had been shot and had been “crying ever since”. There are plans for a nation-wide vigil for the dogs.’

https://spectator.com/article/blame-the-breed-not-the-owner-the-truth-about-american-bully-xls/

A

Yep 'Truffles' would never bite: "'e's a sweetheart".
On a separate note, where does Truffles sleep? Wherever he wants to. You gonna argue with him?
(joke, obviously)

I'm in no way trying to downplay what happened to you by saying this, but it would be prudent to learn what to do when an excited dog approaches you. It shouldn't happen of courser, but it does when people share spaces, I have dogs and the amount of dogs that come running over to us when mine are on lead is worse now than it has ever been.. 'awww they're just friendly' or 'they want to play' etc.. these idiotic dog owners are so entitled as to be stupid and there's no cure for that.

If you get approached by a dog off lead do not scream or make any noise (apart from calling calmly to the owner if necessary), just turn your back to it, if it tries to get around the front of you, just turn again, stay quiet and stay still, completely ignore it, don't look at it.. any sort of interaction invites more interaction from the dog.

My previous dog was a big-ish dog (think labrador size), but the most chill dog that ever lived, the amount of children who would walk past us in the street, then as they were passing by, suddenly and for no reason, they would squeal and flap their arms or run off, I used to think the parents are doing them a disservice by not addressing that complete over-reaction to a calm dog showing no interest in them.. creating that level of excitement in front of an unknown dog (at face height to them too!) is an accident waiting to happen IMO, there are so many idiots around with dogs, staying calm is the best chance you have to protect yourself, otherwise it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy that all dogs that approach you will react to you.

Your partner is a bigger problem than the dog.

Have you really chosen the right man to have a baby with?

I'd have chosen a gangland boss over him to be honest. He'd have probably 'sorted' the issue by now (which is more than her drip of her dh is doing.)
Seriously, I feel for the OP. She should just move.

At some point it may be a LTB situation, sadly.

Can OP genuinely trust DP not to do something stupid like put their child on the dog’s back for a photo?

I feel I have to wade in just to say: from tragic personal experience, I advise that you don't underplay the damage your parents' dog can cause either. Sure, it couldn't kill an adult, but it could easily maim a child's small soft face causing permanent damage, even without really trying to. Trust me on this!

I’m well aware of this, but the difference is that my parents have good control over it. It will be kept away from baby during visits and they have a trusted dog-minder to have the dog when we want to stay over or they want to visit us.

I get you mean well but I am just sick of my partner and others claiming that the XL bully situation is somehow fine just because “Your parents dog!” It’s madness.