A dog-owner whose cocker-spaniel cross was mauled to loss of life in a 20 minute assault by an XL bully canine has right this moment supported requires the breed to be banned.
Lee Parkin from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, advised i the assault in December final 12 months had “broken his heart” and left him with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The debate about whether or not the breed must be outlawed has resurfaced after an American XL bully – a variation of the pit bull – attacked an 11-year-old woman and two males in Birmingham on Saturday. American bully XLs have been linked to 9 deaths previously two years.
The sufferer of the Birmingham assault, Ana Paun, advised Sky News on Monday that the canine that attacked her ought to die and that the breed must be banned, whereas Home Secretary Suella Braverman has requested “urgent advice” on doing so.
Mr Parkin, 49, mentioned he was walking with Izzy, his nine-year-old Jack Russel-Cocker Spaniel cross, and his daughter’s canine Roxy, close to his home when the bully, which was roaming free with no leash – grew to become “fixated” on Izzy.
“It got her between her front legs, got his front paws around her so she couldn’t move, and grabbed hold of her at the back of the neck,” he mentioned.
“As soon as it got hold of her, I knew she was going to die, it basically was shaking her like a rag doll.”
Mr Parkin mentioned he tried to combat off the canine by punching and hitting it and even twisting his thumb within the canine’s eye socket, however he grew to become exhausted within the course of.
The assault lasted 20 minutes and three different males – together with the canine’s proprietor – needed to step in to cease the assault. But they had been unable to avoid wasting Izzy, who later died in Mr Parkin’s arms.
“I don’t see where these dogs belong in society to be fair,” he mentioned. “I get that there are good owners and bad owners, but the problem with (XL bully) dogs is that I was hitting it for 20 minutes with all I had and it didn’t do anything.
“So that, to me, is a danger to society – that these dogs are around.”
The house owners of the canine concerned in he assault had been cautioned by police and advised to attend a canine consciousness course, however the canine was not put down, Mr Parkin mentioned.
He now not takes lengthy walks along with his different dogs, or ventures out on lengthy biking journeys due to the variety of XL bullies in his native space of Scawthorpe, he mentioned.
“(The attack) broke my heart. If I think of Izzy, I get transported to that incident… it’s on a constant loop in my head.”
Amy Hobson, 32, whose daughter’s cheek was hacked into by an American bulldog cross – intently associated to the XL bully breed – additionally helps a ban.
Four-year-old Luna-Ann Forsyth was attacked in April this 12 months at a pal’s home in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.
“The right side of her face, where the dog had attacked her – it looked like he had tried to take that side of her face off,” Ms Hobson mentioned.
It left her daughter with 40 stitches and lifelong scars, she mentioned.
Ms Hobson desires to see house owners of those canine varieties get licenses and is looking for necessities for obligatory coaching for house owners.
“I think for these larger dogs, these heavier dogs – like the American bulldog, the XL bullies, they should have to be muzzled in public and that should be the law.”
Some XL bully house owners don’t agree that the breed is harmful.
Jimmy Williams, 39, from Shropshire, within the West Midlands, owns a three-year-old XL bully named Luna and insists she is the “softest” and “gentlest” canine that he would go away along with his grandchildren with out hesitation.
“Anyone could put her hand in her mouth and she would never ever bite anyone,” he mentioned. “It’s how these dogs are brought up – it’s nothing to do with the dog itself.”
But Dr Candy d’Sa, a canine behavioural knowledgeable, mentioned each the breed and the way in which the canine is reared play a component in how they behave.
“It’s not just the way you bring them up, you can’t ignore the genetics of the breed – these are specialised dogs. Recent ancestry includes dogs bred for fighting and killing other animals, so these traits are inherent in these dogs,” she advised i.
Because there are such a lot of totally different sizes and sorts of bully dogs, an outright ban will probably be very tough to cross.
Instead, Dr d’Sa has known as for regulation of homeowners, guidelines imposing house owners to socialize their dogs and a crackdown on unregulated fertility clinics breeding XL bullies.
“You get micro bullies through to extreme bullies and the size difference is incredible,” she mentioned. “So what do you do, do you legislate them over a certain height, and how do they police that? They are literally going to have to carry a tape measure around – I just can’t imagine how they are going to be able to ban them.
“Rather than an outright ban – which makes them a little bit more attractive in the criminal underworld – my answer now is that they need proper regulation.”
