But I do agree with banning XL Bullies. They should have been banned before even one ever set paw on British soil. When I say 'agree', what I actually mean is that successive UK govts have shown themselves to be completely incapable of dealing with dangerous dogs, relying on knee-jerk reactions instead of doing what the French did and actually listen to people who know what they are talking about and implementing their suggestions. But a ban is the best we're going to get, and something has to be done.
A few decades ago, American breeders thought it would be a good idea to breed Pitbulls with AmStaffs (a Pitbull offshoot) to create the 'perfect family pet). Over time, they began to mix in other breeds to gain size (Old Tyme English Bulldog, American Bulldog). I've only fostered on OTEB and never again, I found it to be very skittish and unpredictable. Ambulls are also skittish and generally not good with strangers and very protective of their owners and property. IMHO, mixing either of these breeds with a Pitbull/Ambull mix is lunacy. UK breeders have gone a step further in their quest for size, mixing in dogs such as the Cane Corso and the Presa Canario (both top-tier personel protection dogs with a mistrust of stranger). In sort, the XL is a 'breed' that originated from dogs with insane amounts of stamina and pain threshold, whose main purpose was to fight other dogs, and then mixed with breeds who, for the most part, have been bred to protect people and property from other people. And they're being sold as family pets.
A man was attacked and killed by 2 XL Bullies during the week. Someone actually stood there and filmed some of it, instead of trying to help. I haven't seen the video,but I know someone in rescue who has, and she said she's never seen anything like it. Those 2 dogs were more like lions, they were eating the chunks that they tore off him while he was still alive but unconcious. A neighbour who arrived home after the attack was advised by the police not to look in that direction as there was human 'debris' scattered around the area. A witness said the attack last 15-20 minutes. That kind of ferocity and time duration is completely off the scale for any breed of dog, let alone a 'family pet'. Just days before the attack, the owner was bragging on FB about how he was 'building lions'. Alongside pictures of these 2 dogs with his young child. Today I came across the story of another young lad recently mauled by XL Bullies in Scotland. These dogs had been living in the home for 2 years, were perfect 'family pets' and then, completely out of the blue, mauled the child. I've been following alot of these attacks and it's almost always the same story, loyal family pets who suddenly turn without warning.
There is something genetically wrong with these dogs. There only appears to be an issue with the 'XL' version of the dog, which to my mind strongly suggests the breeding with large guarding breeds has completely messed them up. The reason I mentionedy ownership of an AmBull and Cane Corso mix is because they were both very difficult dogs to train and due to their genetic make-up, they are not good with strangers. The Cane Corso mix in particular is an oddity, she absolutely loves people but if I have visitors she has to be locked away for 20 minutes until she calms down. I watch her body language; if someone arrives at the gate unannounced, I can see that she is absolutely desperate to greet the person (if she knows them) but she cannot overide her genetic trait to guard. The difference is that her behaviour is predictable; it's what she was designed to do so it is easy to manage - predictable is good. All over the UK there are families with XL Bullies who IMHO are highly unpredictable, and the people who own them have no idea of the genetic make-up within their 'family pet'.
But all that is only part of the problem. The link below should sent the fear of God through anyone who owns an XL, or indeed anyone who comes into contact with the breed, given how regularly I've heard of incidences where they are off-lead in public places.
'Killer Kimbo', once known simply as Kimbo until it became apparent that his bloodline was responsible for so many attacks on humans.The dog was in-bred to create size, but he was also human aggressive. His offsprings, carrying his genes, were also inter-bred, as were their offsprings. And according to research by Bully Watch, of the 50 ads they looked into which were selling pups in the UK, 32 of those come from Killer Kimbo's bloodline
Why are DEFRA or the police not doing this kind of research? Why are they not holding these breeders accountable for breeding dogs that should never be bred from? And most importantly, why are the govt not willing to do more than simply ban breeds long after the damage has been done? Why not follow the example of France, where all breeders have to be registered, where anyone wishing to breed more than one litter has to undergo training, have site visits, pay tax on their sales and ensure that every dog sold can be traced back to each individual breeder?
