XL bully house owners have spoken of how their dogs are “gentle giants” with “beautiful temperaments” on the eve of it changing into a prison offence to personal the breed in England and Wales with out a certificates.
A mother-of-four from Sheffield mentioned her one-year-old male XL bully named Theo is “part of the family”, whereas one other proprietor of two XL bullies in North Yorkshire mentioned the brand new laws to ban the dogs with out an exemption has “affected me massively”.
The deadline for house owners of XL bully dogs to use for certificates of exemption handed on Wednesday at noon, nonetheless there are issues that house owners may have failed to use for certificates in time or in any respect.
Kerry Heath, a 37-year-old childminder, mentioned she has finished “everything we can” to make sure she will be able to hold her XL bully Theo, who lives “happily” alongside her 4 cats and two smaller dogs.
“He is the most gentle giant you will ever meet,” Ms Heath advised the PA information company.
“I’m a childminder and all the children absolutely love him, the parents love him, they’re always asking to stroke him.
“We’re complying with all the restrictions and we’ve done everything we can to ensure we can keep him because he’s part of the family.”
Ms Heath mentioned the angle round her XL bully canine has modified as new restrictions have been put in place, together with carrying a muzzle and being stored on a lead.
She mentioned previous to her canine carrying a muzzle, passers-by would cease to stroke him and say “how beautiful he was” – and on December 31, when carrying a muzzle grew to become a authorized requirement for the breed, “people avoided him”.
“They crossed the road, they pulled children away,” she mentioned.
“It makes me feel so sad because he was so loved by other people before.”
Ms Heath added that the ban is “devastating” for house owners who could not be capable of afford the exemption certificates or who missed the deadline.
“There’s loads (of dogs) in rescue centres that aren’t going to get a home now because it’s against the law,” she mentioned.
“I know there have been some horrendous attacks but I think this breed of dog can be just as loyal as any other dog if they’re brought up in the right way and trained from being a pup, as we’ve done with Theo.”
XL bully proprietor Charl, 30, who didn’t want to share her surname, advised PA that the brand new laws to ban the dogs with out an exemption has “affected me massively”.
The home carer has utilized for exemptions for her two-year-old male XL bully named Thor with a “beautiful temperament” and for a feminine XL bully puppy named Lily that she is adopting, she mentioned.
“Everybody that knows [Thor] loves him,” she mentioned.
“Obviously, he’s intimidating-looking so other people are weird about him, but anyone that knows him and has met him absolutely adores him.
“It’s been so difficult because people were funny about him before the ban, but now people are crossing the street, they’re dragging their dogs away from him and it’s just not needed because he’s friendly.”
She determined to undertake one other XL bully “because I know that so many dogs are going get killed and so many people have given them up”, she mentioned.
“Lily was already born before the ban and she can’t leave her mother until she’s eight weeks old so I paid for her and exempted her before the ban.”
She added: “I wouldn’t agree with any dog being banned because I genuinely believe that no dog is bad.
“It’s not the dogs, it’s the people that are owning them and doing whatever they are doing to the dogs.”
