9 months ago
47 ARTICLE AD
Back in September, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced his plan to ban the XL bully dog in the UK. This came after several horrific incidents were reported, some caught on video, of XL bullies getting into deadly fights with other dogs and humans, including children. Tensions were running high from all sides. Victims of the scary incidents experienced trauma, and owners of non-violent XL bullies were distressed about the fate of their pets. Well, Sunak made good on his promise of a ban. XL bully owners had until February 1 to register their dogs for an exemption certificate that would allow the owner to keep their dog under several protective conditions. It’s been estimated that upwards of 30,000 XL bullies were registered by the deadline. Police can now seize any unregistered XL bullies to have them euthanized, and the pet owners face fines and prison time. The BBC has had lots of coverage this week as the deadline came and went:
The RSPCA doesn’t support the ban: But Dr Sam Gaines, a dog welfare expert for the RSPCA, said the organisation did not want the XL bully to be added to the banned list. She said it would rather see a clampdown on irresponsible breeding, and targeting of individual dogs and owners putting people at risk through their behaviour. … Dr Gaines said: “There are definitely going to be owners of XL bullies who will have not gone through the exemption process and obviously that is a concern. This is why we need to make sure resources are focused on individuals who are deliberately keeping dogs because they want to threaten people with them, frighten people and intimidate them.”
Owners can get monetary compensation for putting their dogs down: When the ban was announced the government launched a compensation scheme for XL bully owners to have their dogs put down. People are eligible to receive £200 if they paid for the euthanasia or £100 if they used a free charity service. Figures released under Freedom of Information laws show 117 compensation claims had been received as of 8 January, with £13,600 paid out.
The rules for keeping XL bullies: Owners registering to keep their XL bully must comply with restrictions to ensure they are not a danger to the public. The dogs must be microchipped, kept on a lead, muzzled in public and neutered to ensure they cannot continue breeding.
Ellee Keegan on registering her dog Costa: “It felt daunting to think that my dog is now a number on a dangerous dogs list.” After registering Costa, Ms Keegan was also required to fit him with a muzzle when out on walks. “It is heart-breaking,” Ms Keegan said, “because he is a big dog and big dogs need a lot of exercise. He plays with sticks and balls, and now he does not understand why he can’t.”
Trainer Steve Constantinou owns three XL bullies: “Mandatory training should be a must and a dog licence is the way forward,” he said. “All that will happen now is the irresponsible dog owners will move on to the next breed and this will be the Cane Corso or Presa Canario, which are larger breeds than the XL bully and more issues will arise.”
This is just miserable all around, and I can’t help but feel that the core of all the problems here are humans, not dogs. When we talked about the French Bulldog being America’s new favorite breed, many of you noted in the comments that their health problems stem from us breeding them to our preferences. Same story here, accent on different features. The XL bully came from people breeding American Pitbulls with American Staffordshire Terriers. They have the potential to inflict the most damage, and they are more likely to inflict that damage when in the care of irresponsible human owners. We ruin everything! But none of that understanding really helps with practical solutions to dealing with violent dog attacks happening now. The victims deserve justice, and at the same time I feel for the responsible dog owners.
Photos credit: Luis Negron and Celso Osh on Pexels and via Instagram
