The mom of a 10-year-old boy who was killed by an American XL Bully canine is calling for a change to the law to guard the general public from out-of-control pets.
Emma Whitfield, 32, misplaced her son, Jack Lis, after he was attacked in Pentwyn, close to Cardiff, South Wales, in November 2021, and since then an extra 15 individuals in Britain have died of accidents sustained from maulings by aggressive and untrained dogs.
Earlier this month, Jonathan Hogg, 37, was killed in Leigh, Greater Manchester, by an animal of the identical breed.
A police investigation into Hogg’s dying led to the canine being destroyed, in addition to two arrests and the seizure of 15 more, six of them adults and 9 puppies.
Detective chief inspector John Davies of Greater Manchester Police mentioned: “Dangerous dogs do not have a place in our communities, and we want to reassure the public that we are doing everything in our power to keep people safe.
“If you think someone has or is breeding dogs which endanger the public, please report it online or by calling 101.”
Recalling her personal ordeal, Ms Whitfield told Metro: “I still have terrible flashbacks. I still see the animal and its teeth. I hear the barking,”
“You relive it multiple times a day – it’s torture. I still find it unbelievable. Sat on the sofa or on the way home, it hits you all over again.”
Ms Whitfield’s marketing campaign, the Jack Lis Law, is in search of new laws to control the breeding, coaching and sale of dogs and is being supported by the Dog Control Coalition, which incorporates the RSPCA, the Dogs Trust and Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, amongst others.
The current Dangerous Dog Act 1991 prohibits the possession of sure kinds of preventing dogs within the curiosity of defending the general public however has been broadly criticised as unsatisfactory since its implementation.
Introduced by then-home secretary Kenneth Baker in 1991 after a spate of 11 deadly canine assaults made headlines, Section 1 of the Act outlaws sure dogs bred for preventing (naming the pitbull terrier, Japanese tosa, fila Brasiliero and the dogo Argentino however, crucially, not American bulldogs). Section 2 makes it a prison offence for the proprietor to fail to regulate an aggressive canine of their care in public and Section 3 outlines the foundations surrounding destruction orders.
The laws has been critiqued for addressing solely the bodily hurt completed to people, to not different animals or the psychological misery prone to end result from a canine assault.
Jac Lis, 10, died after being mauled by a canine in Pentwyn, close to Cardiff (Family handout/PA)
(PA Media)
Organisations such because the UK Kennel Club, Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the British Veterinary Association have all argued that it’s not scientific to tar a whole breed as harmful and that possession and setting play an enormous position in a canine’s growth.
The former states on its website: “The law on dangerous dogs refers to specific breeds of dog as ‘dangerous’. However, we believe that breed-specific legislation ignores the most important factors that contribute to biting incidents – primarily anti-social behaviour by irresponsible dog owners who train their dogs to be aggressive or do not train their dogs adequately.
“The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 has proven that demonising certain breeds makes them more attractive to people who want to flout the law and use dogs in this way.
“The problem of dangerous dogs is a social one and needs to be tackled through the enforcement of effective legislation that seeks to curb irresponsible owners of all types of dog and better educate the dog-owning public to prevent incidents before they occur.”
The motive American Bullies – an American model of the pitbull terrier crossed with American, English and Olde English bulldogs – weren’t included within the act is that they had been barely identified on the time of its drafting, rising because the Nineteen Eighties as a well-liked “status” canine, their sudden bursts of aggression prized in sure quarters.
“I see people with them all the time: they are usually owned by young men,” skilled handler Colin Tennant lately told The Times.
“These big, muscular, thuggish dogs are an extension of the male ego. For the owner, the scarier the dog, the better. Dogs are just another weapon – like a knife. There’s a huge market for them.”
For many, it’s the tradition surrounding the possession of aggressive dogs resembling American Bullies that wants addressing, not the animals themselves, who require solely correct socialising and coaching as puppies to stop their violent instincts from changing into an issue in adolescence.
