27 August 2023 , 23:01
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Britons are 270 times more likely to be killed by American Bully dogs than any other breed.
The pets have carried out 73% of dog attack deaths since 2022, despite forming a tiny part of our canine population.
The dogs have already killed five people this year and 10 last year, tripling the average for dog deaths over the past decade.
At least three victims since 2022 were professional dog handlers, including Adam Watts who had rehabilitated abused dogs.
The figures, which were released by Bully Watch UK and the Campaign for Evidence Based Regulation of Dangerous Dogs, come amid an explosion of attacks by out-of-control animals.
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The Mirror is campaigning to have the Dangerous Dogs Act urgently overhauled.
A spokesman for Bully Watch UK said: “Our research shows American Bully-type dogs have been responsible for 44% of all reported attacks by dogs since the start of the year, with the Bully XL in particular being involved in 22% of all attacks.
Jack Lis, 10, was killed by an American Bully XL in November 2021 (SWNS)
The Mirror is campaigning to have the Dangerous Dogs Act urgently overhauled (GETTY)“This dog breed has been responsible for more attacks than any other breed, and responsible for more than half of the human fatalities we have seen since 2021.”
The Mirror launched our Time for Action on Dangerous Dogs campaign last October to end the maulings and deaths.
Jack Lis, 10, was killed by an American Bully XL in November 2021 and his mum Emma Whitfield, from Caerphilly, near Cardiff, wants the law to change.
Last year, there were nearly 22,000 cases of vicious dogs causing injury in England and Wales, compared with just over 16,000 in 2018.
In March 2022, months after Jack’s death, two-year-old Lawson Bond died in a dog attack in Egdon, Worcs.
A fortnight later, 17-month-old Bella-Rae Birch was killed by her family’s dog in St Helens, Merseyside.
This was followed by fatal attacks on Daniel Twigg, three, three-month old Kyra King, and Alice Stones, four.
Deadly attack victims this year also include Natasha Johnston, 28, Wayne Stevens, 51, Jonathan Hogg, 37.
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The dad of nine-year-old Frankie MacRitchie, who was killed by a 7st American Bulldog Staffordshire terrier cross in Cornwall in 2019, begged: “Don’t let my boy die for nothing.”