Dog attacks: should the Bully XL be prohibited in the UK?

The federal government is dealing with a reaction after declining to prohibit a breed of dog that has actually killed a minimum of 9 individuals consisting of 3 kids because 2021. 

Ministers have “quietly announced” that they do not plan to forbid American Bully XLs, which have actually been blamed for a wave of scary dog attacks, said The Mirror. MPs “from all sides” had actually required “urgent action”.

But reacting to a concern in the House of Lords recently, Environment Minister Richard Benyon there were “no plans” to prohibit the breed.

Keir Starmer has actually vowed to examine the legislation if Labour wins the next election.

‘Aggressive, asserting, fighting dogs’

Labour MP Wayne David informed The Mirror that the federal government’s failure to “tackle the epidemic of dog attacks” was “shocking”. The Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991 is “failing”, said David, who represents Caerphilly in South Wales, where 10-year-old Jack Lis was whipped to death by a Bully XL in 2021.

The breed is a variation of the American bulldog that came from the United States in the 1980s. The XL is not identified by any of the primary dog associations in the UK, so there are no figures on ownership. But the breed’s “frequent appearance in the news, often under tragic circumstances, suggests they are more prevalent than ever”, said The Guardian.

Policing Minister Chris Philp informed LBC last month that in spite of comprising just a “tiny fraction” of dogs in the nation, the XL represented “somewhere between a quarter and a half” of all dogs taken by the authorities.

XLs were “specifically bred to be aggressive, assertive, fighting dogs”, said the i news website’s science author Stuart Ritchie, and can weigh more than 60kg. 

These dogs are a “huge, highly muscled variant of the pit bull terrier”, among 4 prohibited types in the UK. But since the XL is reasonably brand-new, it “falls into a loophole in the law”, Ritchie included. 

Critics requiring this loophole to be dealt with indicate the recent high boost in deadly attacks by dogs. Between 2001 and 2021, the typical variety of dog-related deaths in England and Wales was 3.3 each year.

But the yearly overall of deaths skyrocketed to 10 in 2022, and an additional 5 have actually been tape-recorded up until now this year. The XL has actually been “linked to at least nine of these recent deaths – including all of the deaths in 2023”, composed Ritchie.

The breed is likewise thought to be an aspect behind a 50% boost in medical facility admissions for dog bites in England and Wales over the previous years.

Dog specialists who oppose restrictions “seem to be in denial”, composed Ed West for The Spectator, however the “underlying story behind this escalation of violence is that much of it is the work” of the XL. Banning them “would almost certainly save lives”. 

‘Wholly unsuitable humans’

The XL has “become the focus of a new wave of panic and hysteria”, said Joel Day in the Daily Express. But some argue that this is a “story of misunderstanding, mistreatment and malpractice in the world of dog ownership and breeding”.

XLs are consistently being abandoned by owners not able to deal with them, Bullie Rescue UK charity, which specialises in rehoming bull types.

Celebrity owners are increasing the breed’s appeal, developing need from “wholly unsuitable humans”, said Jane Williams, a committee member of the Association of Pet Behavioural Counsellors. “They don’t give them care and attention, which can result in aggressive behaviour.”

These dogs are being “let down by criminality and neglect”, she informed the Express, and prohibiting them would not avoid dog-related injuries and deaths.

“We’ll just be waiting until the next ‘dangerous’ breed comes around,” Williams included.

Banning XLs or any other breed “would offer false assurances”, tweeted the RSPCA’s head of buddy animals, Sam Gaines. Instead, “robustly enforced breed-neutral laws with preventative measures” are essential to safeguarding the general public.