BBCA 12 months in the past, seven-year-old Lydia was strolling to put up a letter along with her dad when she was savagely attacked by an XL bully that had escaped from a neighbour’s backyard.
Matt says the day turned to horror instantly, telling us he first noticed the escaped canine out of the nook of his eye and inside seconds it was “connected” to his daughter’s arm, biting her three or 4 instances. He says the canine stored lunging for Lydia and in a frantic effort to cease it mauling his daughter, he needed to “lie on prime of it”.
“It was remarkably robust,” says Matt. He remembers Lydia’s screams and seeing blood coming from her wounds, not realizing if her life was in peril.
Lydia ended up in hospital however her dad says it might have been a lot worse: “I may very well be coping with the truth that she’s not with me and he or she’s been killed. That stored me awake at night time.”
He says the weeks instantly after the assault had been robust for the household. Lydia would scream each time her bandages wanted to be modified and on one event she jumped into Matt’s arms when a canine approached them within the park.
Lydia says she thinks canines ought to be on a lead and is clearly nonetheless cautious of them: “I nonetheless like little canines however I do not just like the canines that appear to be the one which bit me.”
The incident left Matt with one query: Why would anybody wish to personal one in all these canines? He contacted Your Voice Your BBC News – and we took him to fulfill an XL bully proprietor to see if he might get some solutions.
Matt is assembly Lily Collins, 25, who lives in Redditch along with her associate Hayden and their two-year-old XL bully, Doug, at a safe canine subject close to their dwelling.
It is a shiny and funky spring morning and earlier than Matt arrives, Lily takes Doug for a cost round. She throws a ball for him, which he enthusiastically retrieves, and the canine practises a few of his coaching drills. Lily says she desires to point out one other facet of XLs, which she thinks usually will get ignored.
When he will get out of the automobile, Matt is nervous and noticeably quiet. We have organized for him to first greet Lily and Doug whereas they’re on the opposite facet of the excessive steel fence which surrounds the sphere.
All through our chat outdoors the gate, Doug sits at Lily’s toes, wagging his tail, apparently completely satisfied to be getting a lot consideration.
After a short dialog by way of the chain hyperlink fence, Matt says he’d be completely satisfied to proceed the dialog within the subject, offered Doug is muzzled and beneath Lily’s associate Hayden’s management at a distance. He says, although he feels Doug is well-trained, he cannot cease enthusiastic about what occurred to Lydia.
As we open the gate, Matt visibly gulps. “I do not discover myself uncomfortable like this fairly often,” he says, including that he feels terrible to ask Lily to maintain her pet away from him. “I really feel unhappy that there is this factor virtually routinely between us due to the kind of canine it’s.”
Lily, nevertheless, says she is used to folks appearing apprehensively round Doug however tells us she firmly believes {that a} canine’s behaviour is decided by how it’s introduced up and educated.
Since February final 12 months, it has been unlawful to personal an XL bully in England and Wales with out an exemption certificates.
The ban means there at the moment are 5 banned varieties of canine in Britain – pit bull terrier, Japanese Tosa, Doga Argentino and Fila Brasileiro, in addition to XL bully. Canines registered earlier than the ban have to be neutered, muzzled in public, and stored in safe situations.
Lily says she obtained Doug earlier than the ban was launched and that she has invested vital time into coaching her household pet.
The canine was rescued from a yard breeder and Lily tells us, if she and Hayden hadn’t taken him in, there was a hazard he’d have ended up within the improper fingers. “He’d both be lifeless or he could be like one of many canines you in all probability see on the information,” she says.
She describes what occurred to Matt’s daughter as heartbreaking. “How has that canine simply escaped the home?” she asks. “It boils my blood.”
Lily says she is assured Doug would by no means damage anybody – however Matt desires to know if she will see the potential for hurt that an XL bully canine has. “I have a look at him and suppose ‘yeah, he might rip my throat out’,” he says. “I wish to be balanced and honest about it but it surely’s laborious not to have a look at his physique and suppose ‘good grief’.”
Lily says she usually hears this response, however maintains it is a query of how the canine has been raised by its homeowners.
The assault on Lydia was not life-threatening but it surely left everlasting scars. The canine was destroyed on the identical day and, in November, its proprietor was given a 26-week suspended jail sentence, a 12-month group order and disqualified from holding canines for 5 years.
“These canines are so highly effective, they’re so large and should you push them to their fullest capability to be this large monster then it will probably occur,” Lily says. “However I consider it is the way you deliver them up, the way you deal with them.
“These canines want a lot psychological stimulation, they don’t seem to be simple canines to personal. They’re laborious work.”
Matt says he can perceive why Lily has taken Doug in – to rescue him from a distinct life – however he’s nonetheless left with the identical query: “Why would somebody go after that breed of canine? As a result of all I can see is that it is about energy and intimidation.”
“These are nice household pets,” Lily replies. “He isn’t a standing factor for us, he is not a weapon. We simply love him a lot.”
Earlier than the XL bully ban was launched, the federal government estimated there have been about 10,000 XL Bullies within the nation.
That proved to be a big underestimate, as there at the moment are greater than 57,000 XLs registered with the Division for Atmosphere, Meals and Rural Affairs. The RSPCA says there may very well be as many as 100,000 XLs in Britain, together with many who haven’t been registered.
Matt would really like licences to be necessary for all large canines that may trigger hurt – and to be conditional on homeowners displaying they’ve completed the proper coaching.
“Banning the breed does not appear to have modified a lot,” says Matt. “But when it’s a must to have a licence to personal the canine, that looks like a extra rigorous means of stopping the individuals who result in assaults.”
Lily says she utterly agrees and provides that the legislation ought to go even additional, requiring licensing for all 13 million canines within the nation.
She admits her canine might trigger extra harm than a smaller canine, however says additionally they battle and assault folks.
At present, the RSPCA has renewed its requires canine licensing schemes to be launched throughout the UK, saying it believes such a transfer would assist to deal with the challenges with canine possession and permit higher enforcement round harmful canines.
The BBC understands the federal government at the moment has no plans to usher in canine licensing and, in a press release, a spokesperson insisted that present legal guidelines had been all about holding folks protected.
There are others who do suppose the Harmful Canines Act and XL bully ban are having an impression. Professor Vivien Lees, from the Royal Faculty of Surgeons, informed us that although she and different surgeons had been treating comparable numbers of sufferers, they had been seeing fewer of essentially the most excessive accidents than they had been the earlier 12 months.
Information from freedom of knowledge requests to NHS England suggests surgeons are on target to deal with as many under-10s for canine chew accidents this 12 months as they did in 2023-24, earlier than the strict guidelines got here into full pressure. Nevertheless it’s not clear what quantity of those accidents had been attributable to XL bullies.
In Scotland, the place a ban entered pressure final August, extra under-10s are set to be handled for canine bites this 12 months. And of the NHS trusts in Wales that responded to us, surgeons are anticipated to deal with fewer under-10s over the identical interval in 2023-24. So build up a transparent image is hard.
Again in Redditch, having met Lily and learnt extra about how she’s educated her pet, Matt has determined he is completely satisfied to fulfill Doug and provides him a pat.
The expertise of assembly Lily and Doug seems to have had an impression. When Matt first emailed BBC Information he mentioned: “I was very pro-dog however now am extremely cautious and cynical about canine homeowners. I hate seeing canines off lead and homeowners excusing it.”
Now, he tells Lily: “As a result of we have chatted it and I’ve heard how you’re so enthusiastic about caring for him, that makes me really feel much more comfy… I am completely satisfied to offer it a go.”
The final time he was this near a canine, Matt says he was mendacity on prime of it attempting to cease it attacking Lydia. It brings again reminiscences of the day of the assault. “I keep in mind how modern the coat is,” he says as he pats Doug.
“Listening to what occurred to your daughter it actually makes me unhappy,” Lily provides. “It makes me unhappy too,” Matt replies.
Extra reporting by Emily Doughty
