American bully XL owners speak of heartbreak at ban

Owners of American bully XLs have spoken of their "heartbreak" at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's decision to ban the breed.

The announcement on Friday follows a spate of attacks, including one which killed 52-year-old Ian Price.

Mr Sunak described bully XLs as a "danger to communities, particularly our children".

And campaign groups such as Bully Watch and Protect Our Pets called the breed "a clear and present threat to public health".

However, some animal charities including the RSPCA argue breed-specific bans are not effective, and a number of owners have told the BBC they believe their dogs are not inherently more violent.

They believe more should instead be done about irresponsible ownership.

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Charlotte Towner, who owns a two-year-old American bully XL called Coco, says her dog is good company, even for her young child.

Ms Towner thinks the dogs mainly get bad publicity because of how they look and argues a ban would not "eradicate the problem" of attacks.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, my girl's weighing in at 60kg. But she's 60kg of love," she told BBC Newsbeat, arguing questions needed to be raised about owners, rather than animals.

"I just think, don't judge a book by its cover. Before you decide to make the ban, perhaps come and meet other dogs like Coco that are getting the bad name when they really don't deserve it."

Ms Towner, who lives in Clacton-on-Sea in Essex, says Coco is well behaved around her 18-month-old daughter.

"She knows not to be playful, she knows not to bounce around and all she ever does is just give her kisses.

"Coco is the best-behaved dog I've ever owned and I've owned a fair few. I've owned poodles, Labradors, even owned a Rottweiler", she says.

"I just think banning the breed isn't going to solve the problem, you need to look at the owners and look at how they're raising their dogs, and more punishment should be done."

Fellow bully XL owner Jake Higgs told Newsbeat the ban was "heartbreaking".

The 26-year-old from Tamworth said: "It's devastating for me and other bully owners out there that haven't done anything wrong."

He said his "tame and calm" 18-month-old dog Bane has the temperament of a Labrador.

"They're so much kinder and gentle than what they're portrayed to be", he added.

Mr Higgs said he could "completely understand" the reaction to the news of increased dog attacks but it was "easy to tarnish all dogs with the same brush".

"I think we should be looking more at the owner".

Another American bully XL owner, Jordan Shelley, said licences and training programmes should be introduced for all breeds.

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, he said: "I would love to see mandatory training courses, I think that would be fantastic. People really need that education and then you have the ability to license and take away those licenses from people when they aren't abiding by the regulations."

He said by then "stopping those people from owning the dogs in the first place, we will reduce the number of dog bites [and] fatalities".

Serena Norton, from West London, is against the proposed ban and told the BBC her four bully XL dogs were all "very loving and well behaved".

"They are quite docile and all they want to do is play," she explained.

But she added that training and socialisation was a must with the dogs, especially when they were young.

"I believe that these dogs are a product of their upbringing and reflect their owners," she said.

Not all American bully XL owners are positive about the experience, and one charity told the BBC it had been contacted by people needing urgent help with their animals.

Ira Moss, manager of All Dogs Matter, told BBC Radio 4's The World at One that the charity had received an increasing number of calls from owners in the past months, telling them their dogs were becoming too big and they did not know how to manage them.

She said the breed was "powerful" and required experience to manage.

Ms Moss also said she was surprised it had taken so long for the government to do something about bully XLs, and she would like to see a ban on the way advertisers were allowed to market the breed online.

"Anyone can go along and pick one of these dogs, take it home, with no experience," she said.

Emma Whitfield, who has campaigned for a ban after her son Jack Lis was killed by an American bully XL in Wales two years ago, also told the BBC that while she did not doubt there were "good examples of the breed", she believed there were too many injuries and fatalities attributed to American bully XL dogs, which "you don't see from other breeds".

"The bad breeders and the bad owners have done this, this is on them," she said.