Another child killed by a dog...

[tnorfotkcab]

Another poor child is killed by a dog.... We already know this is an XL Bully, don't even have to wait for confirmation.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce35zkl9dg3o

Why don't you bring an XL Bully into your home with your kids and feel free to invite other kids around and see how it goes for the next 10 years.

Feel free to risk your child's life.

But I won't with mine thanks.

I never asked you to? I never said anyone had to have an XL Bully in their home, I just pointed out that it is a very small number of them responsible for attacks.

One attack is one too many, but banning the breed is not going to prevent another one because it is clear that the breed alone is not the issue. Something else is going on. Evidence suggests that something else is poor husbandry and a lack of education about dogs.

Labradors are one of the most popular breeds, and have been for decades, with over 34,000 puppy registrations in 2024 and over 38,000 in 2023. However, a Labrador has never killed a child or adult in the UK since records began.

Before we moved I used to carefully time walking our dog to avoid a man who walked a pocket bully. It was always on it’s lead thankfully but he was a really small frail looking man and there’s absolutely no way on earth he could hold onto the lead if the dog decided it wanted to attack.
He lived in a third floor flat in the village, in a block with no outdoor space apart from a car park so the dog had nowhere to burn off any energy.

I agree. Whilst STB have been responsible for a few fatalities over the decades in the UK, they certainly haven't responsible for large numbers. I think the poster is confusing them with the American Pit Bull terrier, banned in the UK in 1990; and/or is referencing USA data where the American Staffordshire Terrier is high on the list of fatality stats.

It's a complex issue (and I'm saying this from the perspective of someone coming to doubt the effectiveness of breed bans, at least in the longer term, because some new power breed is introduced by the same type of people who introduced the last one).

But some breeds do pose a bigger threat than others, and it's not just the owners.

The UK dog bite fatality stats are dominated by bull breeds, rotts and mastiffs, with the odd shepherd, husky or terrier, and sometimes an unexpected breed where a bite or nip has resulted in sepsis.

Bully XLs didnt exist in the UK in any numbers prior to Covid. Since then they've killed about 20 people. In the same period, the fatalities attributable to the epically popular, often poorly bred and frequently untrained cockapoo remain at zero.

These dogs dominate partly due to their breed. They come from lines developed to find pleasure not only in biting, but hanging on and shaking their heads as they do so. This results in horrific injuries.

So even if the vast majority never attack anyone, as a breed they are much more dangerous than labradors, cockapoos, collies, dachshunds, wolfhounds...

Couple that with the type of people who often want to own them, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Saying that most of them are harmless doesn't change the breed profile. As a breed they are - like rotts, mastiffs, American bulldogs and so on - more dangerous than even similarly-sized breeds that dont have bulldog, guarding or fighting heritage.

I actually think the parents need to be held to account this was a baby left with two of these nasty dogs

I think anyone who exposes children or vulnerable people to dangerous dogs or dogs that can kill need to face consequences .

They must be made to think twice

It absolutely doesn’t but I know a lot more about it than the average person because of it

I agree. The thing is, both the XL Bully and its close relative, the American Pit Bull Terrier were american imports. The horrifying fatality stats caused by both breeds in the US were available prior to them being imported into the UK. IMO, The government needs to be more proactive in banning breeds from being imported. Had they done this, the carnage that both breeds have caused in the UK would not have occurred. Banning the breed after they have a foothold is madness!

I had a google news tracker which updated me whenever there was a story in the news. I added them all to a Fb page I ran, but Fb deleted it. The vast majority were bully-breeds, and most were staffordshires.

What percentage of XL Bullies would you think need to kill a child before the breed is banned?

No, I am not.

As discussed before, pit bull bans are being lifted in areas of the USA as they don't work, and they have much larger data sets to work with. Follow the evidence rather than the emotion

I've just checked SKY, BBC and ITV and none of them are naming the breed of the dogs. The Sun, which claims to have spoken to witnesses, are saying the dogs were pocket Bullies. I've not found any other newspaper article which claims the dogs were STB x.

Discussed with whom?!

Bully breed as suspected. Ban the lot.

Ok, can you provide a link to the data you're referring to, please?

I don’t know how you can come on here and try and defend the indefensible in light of yet another child dying
I’ll be honest. I would just ban all dogs in houses with children including grandchildren and 100% including Childminders.
Dog free home should be part of the OFStead inspection process

When it comes to 3 month old babies, there’s nothing wrong with following emotion
Nothing

I bet your a cat person....yuk

I'd not forgotten them but, no, I hadn't mentioned them and probably should have done.

There are also large lobbying groups, who want to be able to rehome pits all over the US.

What they choose to do in America is not my concern. The evidence in the UK has been crystal clear: the American Pit Bull Terrier and the XL Bully have both caused significantly higher human fatalities in a relatively short period of time than any of the other 220+ breeds.

The vast majority of dog breeds have no record of killing people. Most dogs rarely or never bite. I've been bitten by one of my own dogs, and it was 100% my own fault for putting my hand in when she was disciplining our then puppy. That over 20+ years of owning an average of two dogs.

Well, my cat can spell better than you can
But no I have a dog I did state that earlier in this thread.