A dog trainer from Caerphilly claimed that he has been flooded with calls from anxious American bully XL owners who are now scared about going out with their pets, days after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak imposed a ban on the breed.
Martin Winfield, a renowned animal trainer who trains Wales’ most dangerous dogs, said owners are now too scared to leave their homes with their bully XLs since the plan to ban the breed was announced on September 15.
The announcement by Mr Sunak came after a series of attacks by the dog breed, and the most recent incident which left an 11-year-old girl with serious injuries.
Mr Winfield, who owns Rockwood Animals on Film and has been working with dogs since he was 14 said a ban was not the answer and that the issue was with the breeders, not with the breed of the dog.
Speaking to the BBC, he said: “We’ve had a lot of people asking for training and advice since reports of the attacks and the ban.
“People have come to us feeling really bad about leaving the house with their dog, and that’s only going to make the situation worse.
“If you’ve got this dog, you should be coming out and seeking advice to help identify any problems.”
The 61-year-old added that American bully XLs, like all dogs, are “a product of selective breeding” and when the breed first came over to the UK, they weren’t bred to how they are now.
He said: “They were lovely dogs, very loving, similar to the Staffordshire bull terrier in many ways, very affectionate and good with families.
“But sadly, what’s happened is that, because they are a crossbreed, there have been breeders that have been introducing certain lines which have aggression in them, and they have selectively bred and interbred those dogs to be more aggressive, and we are now seeing the result of that.”
He added that a similar situation occurred in Dobermans in the 1980s, as some breeders began breeding aggressive dobermans and a number of people were attacked.
Mr Winfield believes that the solution would be for stricter breeding laws, and the people breeding these dogs must be punished and “bear the responsibility”.
He claimed this would be the only thing to stop breeding bully XLs to be aggressive, adding: “If you own one of these dogs, and they injure or kill someone, then that person must suffer the consequences of that, be stripped of their assets, any more made, they must lose it all and go to jail.”
On September 15, Mr Sunak said he was horrified by recent incidents including the death of Ian Price, 52, and said the breed was a “danger to our communities”.
Announcing the move, Mr Sunak said he “shared the nation’s horror” at such attacks and they could not be allowed to continue.
He said: “The American XL bully dog is a danger to our communities, particularly our children. I share the nation’s horror at the recent videos we’ve all seen.”
Fatal dog attacks are on the rise, with seven already this year, compared to ten in 2022 and just five in 2021.
There are believed to be a few thousand of the breed in the UK but have been tied to an increasing share of fatal attacks: two out of four in 2021, six out of ten in 2022 and at least four out of six so far this year.
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