03 September 2023 , 22:40
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The owner of an American Bully has defended the breed despite a spate of violent and even fatal attacks - but says tougher laws are still needed on people owning them.
Dave Fahkr came out in defence of the XL breeds saying they have been wrongly demonised over the past two years. It comes amidst a string of dog attacks involving the dogs, some of which have involved children.
The breed has been linked to several high-profile attacks which hit the headlines, including the 2021 death of 10-year-old Jack Lis and 37-year-old Jonathan Hogg earlier this year. Mr Fakhr owns a four-year-old, nine stone American Bully named Tex, and says responsibility for attacks instead lies with owners.
"It's not fair that the dogs are labelled as something because of the people that own them," Mr Fakhr told Sky News. "The dogs have done nothing wrong, a lot of the time the dogs in these cases have actually had a bad life being brought up."
Nine-and-a-half stone American Bully Tex (Sky News)But while jumping to the breed's defence, Mr Fakhr warned they do not make a good first-time pet, saying they needed to be "trained properly" if being taken on. American Bullies, he said, were "capable of aggression" like "every dog" and needed a responsible owner, adding that some people were wrongly attracted to them "as a status symbol" due to their size.
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It comes as The Mirror is pushing for changes to the Dangerous Dogs Act, calling for tougher rules on owners with dangerously out of control dogs. Currently, UK law only bans four dog breeds - namely the Japanese Tosa, pitbull terriers, the fila Brasiliero and dogo Argentino.
While American Bullies have been linked to numerous recent violent attacks on both humans and animals in the UK, they remain a legal breed. Mr Fakhr said while banning them was not the answer, legislation on dogs needed to be reviewed.
"Whatever you do with this breed, whether it's ban it or not ban it, the problem's not going to go away," he added. This weekend alone there have been several dog attacks, one of which saw a young child hospitalised.
A three-year-old girl was seriously injured after being mauled by a dog outside a bar in Kirkby, Merseyside, on Saturday. Police seized the dog - the breed of which has not been confirmed - saying it would be humanely destroyed.
Two women were also injured in a separate attack yesterday in Atherton, Greater Manchester, while another woman was taken to hospital after being savaged by two dogs on a street in Oldham on Sunday.
Earlier this week, a court heard two American XL Bullies killed 22 pregnant sheep, and injured 48 more after getting onto private farmland in North Wales. David Hughes, 26, from Rhosllanerchrugog, was given a five-year ban for the March attack..