After a spate of high-profile dog attacks and a Government announcement that XL bully breeds are to be banned in the UK, we take a closer look into the issue, and speak to an owner who says his dog is ‘the most caring, loving and playful baby’.
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00:00 The American XL Bully Dog is to be banned, the Prime Minister has announced, following
00:09 the death of a man in a suspected attack in September. Rishi Sunak said the dogs were
00:14 a danger to our communities and would be banned by the end of the year.
00:19 Hospital admissions for dog bites have gradually increased over the past 15 years. Ten people
00:24 in England and Wales died because of dog bite injuries in 2022 and in that same year there
00:30 were 482 sentences given to owners of dangerously out of control dogs which resulted in an injury
00:37 to a person in public.
00:40 The XL is the largest type of American Bully breed and can weigh more than 9 stone. However,
00:46 it is not recognised by the main British dog associations such as the Kennel Club. The
00:51 type has been involved in several high profile attacks.
00:56 In this programme we will look at the facts around the latest attacks, the Prime Minister's
01:00 announcement and will speak to a Lancashire family who say that their XL Bully is a loving
01:05 family pet who is great with kids and that Rishi Sunak is wrong to ban the breed.
01:12 There's nothing wrong with them at all. Nothing whatsoever is wrong with the breed. It's just
01:19 all due to the owner, how they were raised and how they were brought up.
01:22 [Music]
01:27 [Music]
01:30 [Music]
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01:59 Out! Get out now!
02:06 [Dogs barking]
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02:13 In the UK dog attacks have risen by a third in five years, largely due to incidents involving
02:24 American XL Bully dogs. Over half the 10 fatal dog attacks in the last year involved this
02:31 breed. A recent attack in Birmingham has prompted Home Secretary Suella Bratherman to consider
02:37 banning these dogs which can weigh double that of a Labrador.
02:42 Now since 1991 the breed specific legislation has banned four dog breeds, Pit Bull Terrier,
02:49 Japanese Tossa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Brasileiro. The law forbids owning, selling, abandoning,
02:57 giving away or breeding these dogs based on their appearance. Advocates including the
03:02 RSPCA argue against judging dogs by looks and call for policy changes. Their report
03:08 Breed Specific Legislation - A Dog's Dinner suggests alternative solutions and recommendations
03:15 to address the issue.
03:18 The American XL Bully dog is a danger to our communities, particularly our children. I
03:23 share the nation's horror at the recent videos we've all seen. Yesterday we saw another suspected
03:29 XL Bully dog attack which has tragically led to a fatality. It's clear this is not about
03:34 a handful of badly trained dogs, it's a pattern of behaviour and it cannot go on. While owners
03:40 already have a responsibility to keep their dogs under control, I want to reassure people
03:44 that we are urgently working on ways to stop these attacks and protect the public.
03:50 It's not the dog as such, well to some extent I think a lot of it is the people who own
03:56 the dog as well. I don't know, some people just don't seem to understand the severity
04:04 of having a dog, any dog to some degree. But yeah, there is probably some sense in saying
04:11 some dogs should be banned and it would alleviate the problems that we're just still incurring.
04:17 I think potentially the Dangerous Dog Act needs to be reviewed. The number of dogs on
04:22 that Act is limited and I think there is an opportunity to review it and expand it and
04:29 look at other breeds that may well be on there. But then I would say that it's not the dogs
04:35 that need training, it's the owners.
04:37 That's what I say, yeah.
04:39 I think it's necessary. I wish people wouldn't cross-breed and especially people getting
04:45 dogs. I think there's such a responsibility to be able to train your dog and not everybody
04:52 does. So you've got to protect the public first, haven't you?
04:56 I think they're bred for that purpose and that concerns me. And I love dogs but I've
05:03 never owned a dog and I never would want to. They're too unpredictable.
05:08 I don't think you should ban certain dog breeds because it's about how you brought them up.
05:12 My auntie has that type of dog and he's the sweetest dog on the planet. He would never
05:16 hurt a fly. So I think it's the way that you act around them. If you're inadvertently quite
05:21 a violent person, quite aggressive, if you get angry quite quickly then the dog will
05:25 as well. So it's all about training I think. So I don't think there should be a ban on
05:29 dog breeds. I think maybe you should do more background checks on people who have dogs
05:34 instead.
05:35 I think basically any dog can get aggressive and do that. It's not like just a certain
05:39 dog. So kind of like banning one kind of dog probably won't stop all the attacks.
05:45 I personally think no matter what dog it is, whatever it is, it's all based on the owner.
05:51 All dogs are good dogs. It's just the owners and how they brought the dog up and the training.
05:57 I think there should be a mix of both. There should be some sort of regulation towards
06:02 mixes where they can be higher in aggression towards people or any dogs in general. But
06:08 there's also a side then. It is up to the owners to train their dogs well, especially
06:12 from a young age where it does matter what training they do and how they keep control
06:17 of their dog.
06:19 Joe Gorn from Blackpool says his two-year-old full pedigree bitch Whisper is the most caring,
06:26 loving and playful baby he's ever met. But the 31-year-old said he'd become anxious to
06:33 the point of losing sleep after the Prime Minister announced the breed would be banned
06:37 under the Dangerous Dogs Act by the end of the year.
06:42 Joe who lives in Blackpool with partner Emma and stepson Dominic said that anyone who meets
06:47 a 22-inch tall Whisper can instantly tell she's a gentle soul.
06:53 Good girl. Good girl. She was the first Excel bully that we had.
07:09 Why pick that breed?
07:10 It was just, we did a lot of research to be fair. We come to the park a lot with Dominic
07:15 so we get to see what dogs are behaving in certain ways and reports that you see online
07:20 and everything. And everything we saw about the Excel bully was they're a nanny dog, they're
07:27 gentle with children, they love playing, they just want to snuggle all day on the couch
07:32 and it's exactly what she is like. She's not bothered about attention. Her perfect day
07:40 is laying on the couch all day with us all watching films, isn't it? Just not bothering
07:43 anyone.
07:45 Right Rupert, you've finally met a dog that would eat you.
07:52 They're not nice to see. Obviously no child being bit by a dog is a nice thing to see
07:57 but I mean you can't take that one or them two or them three dogs and say all breeds
08:05 like that must be the same because you'll have dogs out there that are seven, eight,
08:09 nine years old, have been family dogs all their life and have never had an attack, never
08:14 even thought about attacking and you're putting them families in a state of worry as well
08:19 and it's just not fair at all.
08:22 What categorises an Excel bully? Rishi doesn't even know. So why are they banning Excels?
08:26 There's five variations of a bully. There's an exotic, a pocket, a classic, a standard
08:32 and an Excel bully and the only difference between the five are the height of the shoulders
08:37 off the floor, the withers and if it's a bully breed and it's over 19 inch tall it's then
08:43 classed as an Excel bully. But all of the attacks that we've seen, they haven't all
08:47 been of dogs over 19 inch tall. I saw one of one with a, it must have been a pocket
08:52 or a classic, it was the same size as a Staffy but because that owner has gone I've got an
08:56 Excel bully, it's then gone in the newspaper as Excel bully attack. That dog's not an Excel
09:01 bully. It's just another example of a small breed that's been trained badly and has now
09:07 attacked a child.
09:09 One million percent it's either the breeder and the environment that the mother and the
09:24 puppies were brought up in for the eight weeks of the life with the breeder or it's the life
09:28 that they've then had with the new owner once the change of ownership's happened and you
09:35 could take any breed of dog, being sausage dog, pug, jack russell, whatever you choose
09:39 to do and you could breed that dog to be vicious. You could keep it locked in a cage, not feed
09:45 it properly, not clean up after it, you could probe it, beat it, slap it around, not give
09:51 it a very good life. That dog is then going to be cautious of humans and when it has a
09:57 litter of puppies, for the eight weeks it spends raising them puppies, it's going to
10:01 teach the dogs to be cautious of humans. When them dogs are then going to lovely family
10:05 homes not knowing that that's the case, that dog's a danger to those children because it's
10:09 been raised to be cautious and wary of humans and when the dog's of an age to not just run
10:14 away and defend itself, that's what it will do unfortunately. But that's all down to either
10:19 the breeder or the owner.
10:21 We were quite lucky weren't we because the breeder that we got her from was a legit breeder
10:28 and she came to us, she was already toilet trained, she never bit Dominic once, all of
10:36 her sister and brothers were the same and we still have contact with him now. So we
10:40 still have general contact if there's any issues and if we need any advice we'll message
10:44 him because we know he's a good XL owner.
10:48 I don't think there is a right answer to it because you can't really do anything to monitor
10:55 people that have already got XLs whereas if there's a report of a dog that's vicious,
10:59 barking or it's attacked a dog, it's attacked a child, it's snapped, that person should
11:04 be put on a register that he cannot then own another dog because what's to stop him having
11:08 his XL bully destroyed and put down because it's been violent and just going and getting
11:12 a German Shepherd and doing the same, he's still got a violent dog. So it's him that
11:17 needs putting down, not the dog, it's him that should be banned from having a dog and
11:22 if he isn't he should have a prison sentence.
11:34 The first thing Dominic does is go downstairs and say 'morning whisper'. He's the last
11:41 person being in the house that he gives a kiss to goodnight and I'd hope we've brought
11:46 Dominic up well enough for him to realise how to treat pets.
11:50 I love her and also she's nice to me and also she likes me as well and every night
12:04 I give her a kiss and cuddle.
12:07 She does cuddles as well doesn't she?
12:10 Yeah.
12:11 We will then ban the breed under the Dangerous Dogs Act and new laws will be in place by
12:15 the end of the year.
12:21 It's going to be detrimental to Whisper's life. Like you saw her in all the videos,
12:27 she's running around going to chase the ball. What's she going to do when she's on a lead?
12:31 She can't go and run and chase the ball. And then there's the stigma around muzzles. People
12:35 are going to cross the road even more so when they see her with a muzzle.
12:37 Yeah, it's like 'oh she's got a muzzle, she must be dangerous' and then she's not going
12:41 to have any children approaching her and she's then going to have that disattachment from
12:45 people showing her love. If she doesn't like wearing a muzzle, she's not going to like
12:49 being on that walk. She's going to want to get home as soon as she can to take the muzzle
12:52 off. Even muzzled in the car. So when we go to camping trips and we've got a three hour
12:57 drive she's got to be muzzled the whole way. It's not fair and it's going to affect her
13:02 health and the last stipulation of it was that your dog is housed in an environment
13:07 that it's impossible to escape from. A house with a locked front and back door does not
13:13 constitute to an impossible enclosure. What the police class as an enclosure that your
13:19 dog cannot escape from is galvanised steel, like what's in the zoo. We live in rented
13:24 accommodation. We've got a rented house. We're now having to wait for the landlady to tell
13:28 us yes or no on whether we can have this galvanised steel that's going to cost us two and a half
13:32 thousand pounds. And if she doesn't, we're then going to have to think about moving out.
13:38 And finding a different house with a landlord that will allow a dangerous dog and will allow
13:42 us to change the garden into a galvanised steel. It shouldn't be happening. It shouldn't.
13:48 Six, six, four, wait, six, other four.
13:55 And look at them over there as well. They've walked straight past and they're like going
14:04 over towards other dogs but they don't come over here. They sort of redirect a different way.
14:09 She is a lovely dog. And people can kind of tell it from afar, even though she's big.
14:16 It's the first thing they normally say when they come over. Oh look at her, isn't she
14:19 a big gentle giant? And they're fine with her. They allow the kids to stroke her. They
14:25 let them play fetch with her, play with a ball with her. She's never once barked, growled.
14:31 I mean, strangers can take the ball out of her mouth. And she doesn't mind it at all.
14:38 No, she just wants to play.
14:41 Nothing whatsoever is wrong with the breed. It's just all due to the owner, how they're
14:55 raised and how they're brought up.
14:57 I think that people, I think there's other dogs that are just as dangerous like chihuahuas.
15:10 And they may be a larger breed of dog, but from the ones that I've been around, they've
15:17 all been very sweet and loving. I think all the dogs have the instinct stuff. And if you
15:23 ban one, you've got to ban the rest. I think it has to do a lot with people not introducing
15:30 them or having them around enough people. Keeping them locked up, they're really rambunctious
15:36 and crazed out of their mind and they don't understand what's a negative act and a positive
15:42 act. They just see it as attacking another animal or a person or anything.
15:47 It's like an instinct.
15:49 Yeah. And I think they may have a slightly higher risk of it, but I don't think it's
15:55 to the point that other dogs also don't have the problem. I think it has to do with the
16:01 certain demographic of people that like to own pit bulls are the reason why they're...
16:08 Yeah.
16:09 Yeah, because it's a dog that's not for breeding. It's a dog that's a fighting dog. And when
16:16 it attacks a person, child or whatever, it's actually to go for the throat of the person
16:24 or child. Like my wife has got a dog and I don't think that a family dog... And if mine
16:33 were from that type of dog, I wouldn't be easy thinking of the kids, because kids are
16:40 like a tapper dog or I don't know, but that dog is a tapper. What, I'll just go 'Rowr'
16:48 and it'll learn, that's all.
16:50 During the summer holidays, the number of dog bites increases. Police data shows children
16:57 under 16 are most likely to be the victim of dog bites and this risk increased significantly
17:03 in the summer when more children are at home with their pets or around other people's dogs
17:08 and are also spending more time in public spaces. Although parks and beaches have been
17:13 identified as hot spots for incidents, dog bites can happen anywhere and most bites occur
17:19 in the home. Any offences that happen in private can be prosecuted in the same way as bites
17:25 in public. We've been on the streets of Liverpool to ask you what you think of the policing
17:30 of dog breeds and dog safety.
17:33 Definitely, if some breeds should be banned. I mean, I seen a young lad the other day and
17:39 he was about 13 and he had another kid with him at about 10 and he's walking along, not
17:44 a muzzle on the dog or nothing. I don't mind a big dog if they're muzzled, but not when
17:49 a child nearly loses its face.
17:51 I think maybe the dog licences should be returned and then people would be more responsible
17:57 to pay them, wouldn't they? Yeah? So I think that might be a good idea. But we'll see.
18:04 Because it is dangerous, isn't it, when, especially if you've got little ones with you.
18:09 I think it's awful, really. And they say, "Oh, it's alright, they won't touch you. They won't
18:16 bite, they won't do this." And I think, no, not when they've got your leg in their mouth,
18:20 they won't.
18:21 I've got a little bit of a Yorkshire Terrier myself, you know, and we have to be careful
18:26 because I've got a great-grandson. But, you know, I make sure that it can't go near him.
18:31 But it doesn't bite anyway, but any dog can turn.
18:36 I just don't think you should ever have dogs around children or babies, ever. Full stop.
18:42 That's my opinion, not everyone's. Yeah.
18:45 Earlier in the summer, Merseyside Police launched their Taking the Lead campaign to help reduce
18:50 incidents of dog bites in the region. The aim was to offer important safety tips to
18:55 all dog owners about looking after their pet, especially around children, which could prevent
19:00 serious injuries.
19:01 Our research at the University of Liverpool has been looking at hospital records to see
19:06 what's been going on with dog bites. And from that, we can see that the greatest number
19:11 of hospital admissions is in the Liverpool City region. And three of those areas are
19:17 actually in the top ten local authorities in the country for dog bites.
19:22 Another key focus of the Taking the Lead campaign was advising people to think before they buy
19:27 a dog and research the breed characteristics to make sure they can provide that breed of
19:32 dog with the right home setting.
19:34 Statistics provided by the School of Veterinary Science at the University of Liverpool shows
19:39 that in Merseyside, there tends to be more dog bites in areas with socio-economic challenges.
19:44 Between 1998 and 2018, around 5% of all national hospital admissions in relation to dog bites
19:52 occurred in Merseyside.
19:54 These dogs are dangerous. I want to reassure the public that we will take all necessary
20:00 steps to keep people safe.
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