Yet another child mauled by a dog in the uk *contains graphic image*

In order to make your point you need to be finding 10-20 such cases a year @Vroomfondleswaistcoat . Can you?

Yes, but I'm not going to encourage you any further.

Someone has posted the link to dog attack fatalities in the UK and Bully XL's are vastly overrepresented.

They need to be banned.

There's been 7 children killed by dogs in recent months. 3 of them have involved XL bull dogs. If you think about how few of them there are in comparison to other breeds of dog, they are massively over represented in the statistics. I encountered one on a walk yesterday, they are horrible things. I immediately pulled my kids out of it's path and pushed them behind me. I cross the road to avoid them, which I think the meathead owners enjoy tbh.

They probably do. Walking around with a crowd divider is likely part of the appeal.

The stories linked on this thread are so bad. Why we overlook children mauled just when they’re outside is baffling.

I know we all don’t, but still society does stuff all on the whole.

I love dogs, grew up with various sizes (grandparents had a giant breed when I was born) & owned through adulthood. Now have a small(ish) breed that thinks it might be one of my cats.

Most dog behaviour relates to training & treatment, but we need to realise that there are genetic traits related to the job that the breed was originally designed for. I know people who have huskies as family pets and have managed it perfectly. I also know someone who has XL Bullies and they behave impeccably because they are trained and exercised. They live with a chihuahua who is definitely the leader of the pack. I also had a friend in childhood that had a Staffy and a Jack Russell Cross. The staffy was the softest, daftest dog ever born. The JRT was just mean!

It's about being sensible though. If you don't have the time or patience, don't have a dog. Have a cat, they ignore you most of the time and come for fuss and food. If you have kids, look for a breed with patience that isn't likely to be highly strung. Whilst smaller dogs can still bite and cause damage, the consequences are likely to be less devastating than with a dog that is stronger (& sometimes bigger than the owner).

I do believe in licensing for dogs and compulsory minimum level PL insurance. The law already requires micro-chipping but I suspect that this is often circumvented.

Could you, aye 😂
Absolute state of this

There also needs to be a total ban on importing "stray" dogs from overseas. Piece on the TV this morning about a BBC journo who has imported a clearly very damaged and very nervous mongrel from Romania. Dog stressed out of its head, spends its life hiding behind the sofa. That's not a happy dog.

I agree with you, and I think the majority of people who have owned or have experience with large powerful breeds would too.
It seems as though the two sides of the arguments here are from people who have little to no knowledge of large powerful breeds and dog psychology in general. And the other side clearly have a large powerful breed or have a lot of experience with them and understand their needs.
Unfortunately the people that tend to own these breeds (that have caused deaths) also inexperienced and ignorant to the nature of the breeds. As I've posted before GSDs, Rottweilers, Doberman's etc have all at one time or another been the subject of ban discussion. It all rolls with the trends of breeds at the time and the wrong people then own these dogs because of the trend.

Agreed.

@PassTheDuckie Not always. That’s a very uneducated comment you’ve made.

@KnittingNeedles

“Dog wardens should be given the right to humanely kill any dog they come across which is not licensed/chipped. No appeals, no seizing pending a court case, no right for the owner to put their side of the story. Shot/injected immediately, no questions asked.”

Shot immediately? Are you in the U.S?

Are you always so dramatic.

There's a thought. That said, irresponsible people will be irresponsible whether they need a one or not. We need a licence to drive a car but it doesn't stop some people driving without one unfortunately.

@HappiestSleeping

There's a thought. That said, irresponsible people will be irresponsible whether they need a one or not. We need a licence to drive a car but it doesn't stop some people driving without one unfortunately.

Or being terrible drivers!

10 to 20 cases of small terriers killing humans every year? That's just not true is it Vroomfondleswaistcoat. Come on, just admit it. Although if you did actually have such evidence, I don't know why you wouldn't post it to add balance to the debate 😂

I'm in no way scared of big dogs, I have been raised around dogs big and small but American Pit bulls and Bully XL's scare the life out of me.

My children have been raised around dogs but I would actively cross the road to avoid one of these dogs. They need to be banned, how many more deaths do we need before something is done - I agree with the sentiment that the owner is largely at fault but these dogs are huge and cannot be safely handled by most people.

https://mol.im/a/11960587

Another day another bully attack.

'Bully' covers a lot of dogs. This specific one was a bulldog. Can't say I have read about attacks from them very often at all.

@PassTheDuckie

Another day another attack..cocker spaniel this time. This was my point , many kids are bitten yearly by family pets (not bully breeds) so banning bully's will do nothing to stop the thousands of kids ever year having there faces bitten by dogs

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11972879/Mom-faces-backlash-keeping-familys-pet-dog-bit-three-year-old-daughters-face.html?ito=social-facebook&fbclid=IwAR2HXFDtxITHz3ccDwURMXy8LR99K0HzoSmIwBk1Ysd1iKjj_ZhWFCrWDEs#6nj37p2du8y

It will stop them DYING though, which I’m sure we can all agree is much worse.

Plenty of other things injure/scar/disfigure children (boiling water, fireplaces, climbing on things), we can’t ban everything - parents need to take some responsibility for keeping kids safe from injury. In the cocker spaniel example, it is clear bad parenting.

Another fatal attack, again featuring American Bulldogs. This woman was attacked when the dogs escaped into her back garden.

https://www.expressandstar.com/news/uk-news/2023/04/18/man-admits-being-in-charge-of-dogs-which-caused-death-of-pensioner/

The woman wasn't touching them, interfering with them, breathing on them or any of the other excuses people make for dog attacks. She was in her own garden and they came in and killed her.
American bulldogs are not normal dogs and they are not safe to be kept in normal society. Ban them.

@PuttingOnTheKitsch

Yes, I agree wholeheartedly with banning them.

But that needs to be backed up with exterminating every one of them that currently exists in the country.

That way there's zero excuses. Anyone in possession of one after 'x' date gets it taken from them and destroyed and they're prosecuted themselves with extremely harsh sentencing.

This whole dangerous dogs thing needs stopping. No excuses.

We all point and shake our heads at the bat shit gun laws in the US and yet here we are with lethal killing machines on the loose and idiots defending them.

But that needs to be backed up with exterminating every one of them that currently exists in the country.

Yes.

Awful. I think part of the issue is idiots who humanise dogs and dont train them. I'm sick of hearing about 'fur babies' and how people treat dogs like children. Dogs are pack animals and if you treat them like they are top dog and that's how they will behave.

These dogs are very well enmeshed in the criminal world. They are used as a weapon. I suspect (no evidence) that a certain element of the Bully XL community are trying to develop a dog that can take down police dogs.
Once that starts happening we will surely see action being taken. But hopefully before.