'Dangerous' dog breeds - should they be banned?

[jimmy jazz]

Right now in the UK there is a fuss happening regarding the ownership of so-called dangerous dogs and whether they should be banned.

This is a reaction to the latest dog attack in Birmingham where an XL Bully attacked an 11 year old girl and then two men who tried to defend her:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-66780321

The footage is online if you wish to search for it. Fortunately this time nobody died but it will give you an idea of the size and power of these dogs.

So do you think they should be banned? What is your experience with these and/or similar dog breeds? Is the problem at the other end of the lead, or is it a bit of both?

[Jwb]

So when I was in the program I worked at 2 different animal shelters over the course of 2-3 years.  My entire time I dealt primarily with dogs.

The majority of dogs who end up in the shelter are either pits or mutts with pit mixed in somehow. 

There are 2 basic reasons why pits get such a bad rap.

1) the owners.
There are a lot of people who specifically want pits because it's seen as a bad ass dog to have,  and as such they encourage the pit to act aggressive.  I've been walking down the street in the hood plenty of time to find an angry pit chained to a post outside some shifty house. Just trying to do every thing he can to break that chain and get in your ass. People do that shit on purpose for security. That is not even to mention the dog fighting rings that pretty much exclusively fight pits. That's somewhat more rare but still common enough to be a noticeable factor.
2) they are built to fight
While in my experience pits aren't necessarily more aggressive than other breeds,  if they do turn on you they can do a lot of damage.  They will not let go of something once they clamp down.  Once they get a hold of you,  good luck getting it off of you.  I knew one guy in the program who damn near had PTSD from this one pit at the shelter latching on to his arm and wouldn't let go.  Another guy came up trying to get the dog off and was punching it square in the face to get it to release and it would just growl. When he came back from the hospital he had gaping holes in his arms that looked almost like bullet wounds.

But personally the only dog that ever attacked me was an aging husky that was going wirey. I'm perfectly comfortable with pits for the most part because you can usually read them pretty easily if they are aggressive.  Like an a aggressive pit is usually very overtly and outwardly aggressive.  There's no mystery to it.

[jimmy jazz]

That is not even to mention the dog fighting rings that pretty much exclusively fight pits. That's somewhat more rare but still common enough to be a noticeable factor.

When I was at college I used to speak to one of the lads on the walk to the building in the mornings. He'd talk about new dogs he had got and say they were pussies and was getting rid of it. I thought he was talking shit and boasting like people do to impress others.

One day he was no longer in the lessons and other lads were saying he has been kicked out for saying he beats his dogs with sticks. I saw him in the paper a few months after as he'd been busted for being in a dog fighting ring.

I know the shithole where this XL Bully went mad and it wouldn't surprise me if it was raised for that reason. It definitely goes on. And even aside from that, there are endless amounts of people who get these muscle dogs for the same reasons you just described.

So anyway do you think they should be banned? I think you're leaning toward no.

[degrassi.knoll]

I disagree with banning breeds from ownership but I am in full support of restrictions on rentals and such.

People are the main problem. Even the friendliest and most docile breeds dogs will act unpredictably when they feel insecure, and the majority of dog owners don't concern themselves with being GOOD dog owners.

[Jwb]

When I was at college I used to speak to one of the lads on the walk to the building in the mornings. He'd talk about new dogs he had got and say they were pussies and was getting rid of it. I thought he was talking shit and boasting like people do to impress others.

One day he was no longer in the lessons and other lads were saying he has been kicked out for saying he beats his dogs with sticks. I saw him in the paper a few months after as he'd been busted for being in a dog fighting ring.

I know the shithole where this XL Bully went mad and it wouldn't surprise me if it was raised for that reason. It definitely goes on. And even aside from that, there are endless amounts of people who get these muscle dogs for the same reasons you just described.

So anyway do you think they should be banned? I think you're leaning toward no.

yeah, no I don't agree with banning them.  They're incredibly common dogs here. 

Tbh working at the animal shelter made me feel like if anything all pet ownership should be banned. People have consistently demonstrated their inability to responsibly own pets to the point where not only is every city I've ever been to overrun with stray dogs and cats, but now there are a ton of invasive species in Florida that started out as people's pets.

[Lisnaholic]

As well as the alarming video in jimmy jazz's OP, there are these UK statistics:-

Ten people died because of dog bite injuries in England and Wales last year.

Numbers of attacks are rising. There there were 8,819 admissions to hospitals in England with dog bites last year. There were 4,699 in 2007.

Four dog breeds are banned in the UK - the Pit bull terrier, the Japanese tosa, the Dogo Argentino and the Fila Brasileiro

I'd say yes, ban the American bully XL - even the name is creepy.

In most cities there are too many dogs, too many irresponsible pet owners. I'm a firm supporter of the notion that an essential element of freedom is the ability to walk our streets without fear. Here in Mexico, I have been barked at, lunged at, and (once) bitten by dogs in the street. I've spoken with schoolkids who are afraid to walk down specific streets because of the dogs in them: what's that about?! When I was a kid, we felt safe playing in the streets, as long as we watched out for the cars, but now, little by little, street by street and kid by kid, dogs are snapping away at that freedom. So I say the more banned breeds the better.
Yours sincerely,
Angry Pedestrian 

[jimmy jazz]

There was a guy on GMB saying that 70% of the deaths caused by dogs in this country now are because of this one breed.

The argument that it's down to the owner only makes sense up to a point imo. These dogs are so dangerous it's a mixture of both. If you ban this one breed, they'll move on to something else and then you are back to square one so I dunno. Maybe it needs to become very difficult to own any sort of dog. License/criminal background check.

This owner definitely needs banning. As well as putting down before he or his dog kill someone:

https://twitter.com/BullyWatchUK/status/1690256010995171329

How do you stop people like this owning dogs?

[Jwb]

Forget the dog.  He is posing way more danger with his car in that video.

[degrassi.knoll]

I'm a firm supporter of the notion that an essential element of freedom is the ability to walk our streets without fear.

Good point.

[Jwb]

Tbh I'm guessing the stray dog situation in Mexico is probably way worse than it is here. But I think they might have bigger fish to fry down there.

[Lisnaholic]

^
That's true, Jwb. In Mexico I've never once seen the "Dog Pound" trucks that I used to see on American cartoons like Top Cat and Tom and Jerry, and which I therefore assume are a regular part of the American street scene.
Scenes of every-day life in an American city:-

[jimmy jazz]

BREAKING: Sunak has just banned them.

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-66818862

[jimmy jazz]

In very related news, 30 year old man killed by two dogs:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-66817795

Just down the road from here. That's concerning, it's never good when dogs kill but you expect it to be a small child. Not this time. I should add that where I'm from is scrote central where you see these Schwarzenegger dogs with their owners all the time so that will influence my opinion a bit. I'm glad they've banned these but the scrotes will move onto something else I bet.

How do you defend yourself when set upon by a dog? I could deal with a poodle or Jack Russell but what do you do with the XL Bully or similar?

[SGR]

There was a guy on GMB saying that 70% of the deaths caused by dogs in this country now are because of this one breed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_States

[jimmy jazz]

That fucking meme 😂👌