Just last week, Rishi Sunak announced a ban on a specific breed of dog: the American XL Bully. Whilst the name sounds more like something you might find in the depths of your search history, this breed has made the news lately due to its appetite for human flesh.
The statistics are undeniable: 1,112 dog attacks recorded by West Midlands Police in 2022, compared to 975 recorded in 2021 – with XL Bullies being responsible for around 50 percent of these.
“My darling Cupcake wouldn’t hurt a fly”, you might insist. But if it only takes one loud noise or sudden movement before darling Cupcake wraps her teeth around my femur, then I don’t want her anywhere near me.
XL bullies are bred for violence. As Lawrence Newport of “Bullywatch” told the Spectator, they are “inbred repeatedly for exaggerated [fighting] characteristics”, “locked in cages to fight to the death with another dog”, with the winners selected for further breeding. He also points out that Great Danes – a much larger breed, have not been responsible for a single death.
Watching the pixelated CCTV, you get a sense of the bullies’ ferocity, they clamp their jaws down and thrash, tearing through fat and muscle alike.
There are exceptions, of course. Some of these dogs are well trained, well-adjusted family dogs. Some of these dogs are probably angelic. But they are exceptions to a rather unsettling rule.
One might argue that the proposed government response is overzealous. Maybe the real issue should be the responsible training and nurturing of these animals. But as darling Cupcake eyes up a particularly appetising toddler, I wonder if we don’t quite have time to hash these issues out.
The ban on breeding makes sense, then, but what to do about the XL bullies that are already living in so many homes across the UK? Will the introduction of mandatory neutering, registration and muzzling for dogs in public be enough? These are the issues that are generating the most backlash on social media. People love dogs, as they should. For some, a dog is like a family member, thus any policy that infringes upon their quadrupedal relatives is received with vitriolic distaste.
Maybe there is a more holistic solution – perhaps a training scheme to help owners learn how to handle dangerous breeds, or a more substantial vetting system for suitable homes. This feels like a slightly utopian vision, though, especially with this government’s disinterest in public spending.
Alternatively, we could airdrop them en masse into the next Burning Man and televise the results. I’d definitely watch.
“American Bully Females Playing – Smoky and Cirock” by Rock City Kennels is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
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“She wouldn’t hurt a fly!”
Just last week, Rishi Sunak announced a ban on a specific breed of dog: the American XL Bully. Whilst the name sounds more like something you might find in the depths of your search history, this breed has made the news lately due to its appetite for human flesh.
The statistics are undeniable: 1,112 dog attacks recorded by West Midlands Police in 2022, compared to 975 recorded in 2021 – with XL Bullies being responsible for around 50 percent of these.
“My darling Cupcake wouldn’t hurt a fly”, you might insist. But if it only takes one loud noise or sudden movement before darling Cupcake wraps her teeth around my femur, then I don’t want her anywhere near me.
XL bullies are bred for violence. As Lawrence Newport of “Bullywatch” told the Spectator, they are “inbred repeatedly for exaggerated [fighting] characteristics”, “locked in cages to fight to the death with another dog”, with the winners selected for further breeding. He also points out that Great Danes – a much larger breed, have not been responsible for a single death.
Watching the pixelated CCTV, you get a sense of the bullies’ ferocity, they clamp their jaws down and thrash, tearing through fat and muscle alike.
There are exceptions, of course. Some of these dogs are well trained, well-adjusted family dogs. Some of these dogs are probably angelic. But they are exceptions to a rather unsettling rule.
One might argue that the proposed government response is overzealous. Maybe the real issue should be the responsible training and nurturing of these animals. But as darling Cupcake eyes up a particularly appetising toddler, I wonder if we don’t quite have time to hash these issues out.
The ban on breeding makes sense, then, but what to do about the XL bullies that are already living in so many homes across the UK? Will the introduction of mandatory neutering, registration and muzzling for dogs in public be enough? These are the issues that are generating the most backlash on social media. People love dogs, as they should. For some, a dog is like a family member, thus any policy that infringes upon their quadrupedal relatives is received with vitriolic distaste.
Maybe there is a more holistic solution – perhaps a training scheme to help owners learn how to handle dangerous breeds, or a more substantial vetting system for suitable homes. This feels like a slightly utopian vision, though, especially with this government’s disinterest in public spending.
Alternatively, we could airdrop them en masse into the next Burning Man and televise the results. I’d definitely watch.
“American Bully Females Playing – Smoky and Cirock” by Rock City Kennels is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.
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