IT is the canine status sign liked by stars consisting of Little Mix vocalist Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Geordie Shore’s Aaron Chalmers and rap artist Drake.
But the American bully dog has a darker side — and is believed to lag 7 of the 10 deadly attacks on individuals in Britain in 2015.
And as calls install for the bigger so-called XL kind of the breed to be prohibited, The Sun can today reveal that rogue breeders are utilizing the greatest, most muscular dogs to produce a 10st beast variation of the animal — called the XXL — and are offering them online.
A Sun examination discovered “XXL” dogs freely marketed on TikTok by UK sellers for more than £2,000 and the breed is offered on websites consisting of Facebook, Gumtree and Instagram without any evident checks.
Social media has lots of videos with hashtags such as #protectiondog, #dogbite and #bullylair proving owners walking their dogs.
But professionals state the Frankenstein XXL dogs are a lot more most likely to attack than XLs since the overstated functions of their breeding leave them in discomfort.
Dog behaviourist Stan Rawlinson, who recommended the Government on legislating harmful dogs, said: “These breeders are messing about with the DNA of this dog and turning it into a freak.
“There’s no such thing as an XXL as a breed — it’s individuals developing the greatest animals they can to make as much money as possible.
“It’s a status dog. Irresponsible owners desire these big dogs so they can walk down the street looking hard. They train them to strike, and this kind of dog chooses the throat.
Incredible damage
“Genetically, this is a very, very reactive and aggressive dog. They can cause incredible damage to adults. There’s no reason to own a dog with this much power.”
The primary 2 crosses for XLs are American bulldogs and pitbulls. The latter is prohibited in Britain under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.
Stan said: “I’ve never refused to work with any animal in 50-plus years but I won’t go near this one. That’s how dangerous it is.”
Mum Emma Whitfield needed to determine her ten-year-old boy Jack Lis by his shoe after he was trampled to death by an XL bully in a 2021 attack in Caerphilly, South Wales.
The owner of the 8st animal, called Beast, Brandon Hayden, then 19, was offered four-and-a-half years at a young wrongdoers’ organization after confessing supervising of the out-of-control dog.
Jack’s mum Emma, 32, is campaigning for brand-new laws on dog training, breeding and sales.
She is backed by Caerphilly’s Labour MP Wayne David, who last night voiced issue over the XXL bully.
He said: “It makes it all the more important that new laws and regulations are introduced as quickly as humanly possible, and that the regulations which are in place are enforced.”
XLs are not identified by the primary UK kennel clubs, which keep breed stats, so there is no record of the number of remain in Britain.
London’s Met Police today revealed it has actually taken 44 American bullies up until now this year.
On Thursday an inquest into the death of dad-of-five Jonathan Hogg, 37, heard how he was trampled when a friend’s XL switched on him while he cared for it.
Jonathan, of Leigh, Greater Manchester, was hurried to medical facility however suffered deadly arm, leg and head injuries.
A males and female were apprehended and bailed.
Police likewise robbed 2 homes and took 15 dogs — 6 totally grown and 9 pups, likewise thought to be XL bullies.
Dog fitness instructor Rob Metcalf, from One To One Training School in Edwinstowe, Notts, said: “The XL American bully is the brand-new designer dog and some owners simply desire them to walk about looking difficult.
“These are extremely strong, dominant dogs and require to be trained effectively, however individuals are viewing how-to guides on YouTube.
“I don’t blame the dogs, I blame idiot owners.”
Vanessa Waddon, of the Hope Rescue Centre in Llanharan, near Cardiff, said XXL bullies are most likely to attack since breeding overstated functions leaves them in discomfort.
She said: “These individuals are breeding for wealth, not health.
“Oversized dogs can have poor spinal columns, knee discomfort and might need to drag their legs behind them, as their bodies can’t take the weight.
“Pain makes a dog most likely to snap, similar to human beings, yet an area of the bully neighborhood are taking on each other to get the dog with the most overstated functions. It’s like a subculture.
“It means responsible owners are seeing their dogs demonised.”
Vanessa likewise blamed prohibited breeders for the latest attacks, and said: “The dogs are being established to stop working from the minute they are born.
“They are being kept in outdoors cages, circulated prohibited breeders and aren’t hung out in family environments.
“Any dog is capable of biting in the hands of this type of breeder and owner.”
Sean Main, who arranges American bully reveals throughout the UK, safeguarded the breed, stating: “The Bully was reproduced to be a buddy dog. This is 100 percent about bad owners and not the dogs.
“When the dogs get cost 10 weeks old they are running about, wagging their tails, all happy.
“Put into the incorrect hands they can assault however the result is the very same for any dog, whatever breed.
“Only a small fraction of American bullies that end up in the wrong hands are nightmare dogs.”
GROWING TOLL OF VICTIMS
THE UK death toll from dog attacks is on the increase, with 10 in 2015.
Just half a mile from where ten-year-old Jack Lis was mauled to death in Caerphilly in 2021, retired nurse Shirley Patrick, 83, passed away in an attack by an XL bully cross-breed in December 2022.
Toddler Bella-Rae Birch, 17 months, was killed by a bully at her home in St Helens, Merseyside, in March in 2015.
And dog walker Natasha Johnstone, 22, passed away from several bites to the neck while working out 8 dogs in Caterham, Surrey, in January this year.
