Black Country rescue centre says ban on XL bullies won't solve problem of dangerous dogs
The owner of a dog sanctuary which looks after and re-homes animals across Dudley and the Black Country has said she will do all she can to help owners of American XL bullies who are struggling with new government legislation.
Lucy Antill, who has run Halesowen-based Monarch's Mutts Dog Rescue for five years, has experience of over 20 of the cross breed dogs derived from pit bulls, a ban on which came into place under the Dangerous Dogs Act on January 1.
Owners of XL bullies have until January 31 to apply for an exemption to the ban which costs £92.40 per dog, and they also have to meet stringent guidelines, including having to muzzle them and keep them on a lead, restrictions over the ownership or adoption of the dog and legislation on insurance, which has to be renewed annually.
The ban came into force after two serious attacks by the dogs, including he death of Staffordshire man Ian Price, who died of his injuries after trying to defend his elderly mother from two loose XL bullies.
But Lucy, who has recently re-homed Hope, a one-year-old XL bully who was found tied to a radiator in a Dudley house at nine months old, said the ban on them would do nothing to stop irresponsible breeding and would mean more of them having to be re-homed as owners panicked at the new rules or could not afford to pay for the exemption.
.She said: "Hope now has a fantastic home with responsible and loving owners after a terrible start in life. We took her in as we would with any dog and looked after her until someone came along to give her a permanent residence.
"From now though we won't legally be able to re-home XL bullies under the new legislation, just to keep them at the kennels which will deny another dog a place.
"I have experience of around 20 to 30 of this breed during my time running the group and like with any dog, it is how they are trained, treated and kept which dictates their behaviour, and sometimes that of the owners.
"Don't get me wrong, I am in favour of cracking down on dogs who cause a problem by attacking people or other animals – I live around the corner from the house where the grandmother was killed by two American bulldogs in Rowley Regis. It was a terrible case but it came out in court that the two dogs escaped from next door.
"But there are too many irresponsible owners or importers and this is just the latest breed to be targeted. By banning them it will move onto other ones, with Cane Corsos and Perro de Presa Canario likely to be next in line."
A spokeswoman for the PDSA West Midlands said its position on the issue of the Dangerous Dogs Act is that breed-specific legislation is ineffective because it has not resulted in a reduction of dog bites or human deaths.
She said: "Whilst we agree urgent action is needed to protect the public from dangerous dogs, we're disappointed the Government are pushing ahead with breed-specific legislation.
"We'd like to see them focus on much needed extensive reform of the Dangerous Dogs Act, as we do not believe that adding ‘XL Bully’ dogs to the list of banned breeds will be an effective way of protecting the public."
The volunteers at Monarch's Mutts are running clinics and online support sessions for owners who are local and are struggling to sort out the online exemption, as well as scanning and chipping the dogs for free,
For full details e-mail monarchsmutts@gmail.com or visit the Facebook page at facebook.com/monarchsmutts