American Bully XL ban won’t stop vicious attacks, expert warns
The IndependentGet the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy American Bully XL attacks are likely to continue to rise now that the UK has let the “genie out of the bottle” with a boom in unlicensed breeding – and even a ban is unlikely to stop them, an expert has warned. open image in gallery Lee Parkin’s dog Izzy was killed four days before Christmas last year Despite having been brought up owning dogs, he told The Independent that he had been left “petrified” of these breeds and had been diagnosed with PTSD, after an American Bully mauled his family’s nine-year-old dog, which died in his arms shortly afterwards. While unlicensed breeding generally boomed during the pandemic, the only part of that trade that didn’t collapse upon people’s return to the office was the “very buoyant” American Bully trade, he said. “And we ended up with hundreds of dogs locked up in police kennels because they might be a pit bull.” Furthermore, while responsible American Bully owners would likely register their dogs, those keeping pets “for the wrong reasons” may not – “and I think those are more likely to be the dogs involved in attacks”, he said.