XL Bully owner feels 'targeted' over choice of dog amid calls for ban on breed

12 September 2023 , 16:15

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Sophie Coulthard, 39-year-old owner of XL bully Billy, said she felt 'targeted' due to her choice of pet (Image: Sophie Coulthard / SWNS)

A defiant XL Bully owner has hit back at calls for the dog breed to be banned.

Sophie Coulthard, 39-year-old owner of Billy, said she felt "targeted" due to her choice of pet. It comes amid growing calls for the breed to be banned following several high-profile attacks on children.

Ms Coulthard described the situation as "a moral panic" and cautioned against "knee-jerk" changes to legislation that would ban the breed. Following public pressure, Home Secretary Suella Braverman has ordered urgent advice on outlawing XL Bullies following a horrific incident in Birmingham where 11-year-old Ana Paun was savagely attacked by one of the dogs.

Ms Coulthard described a potential ban as 'a moral panic' following a horrific attack in Birmingham that left a child injured (Sophie Coulthard / SWNS)

Sophie insists that her XL Bully is a lover of 'cuddles' and argues potential owners would simply switch to another breed (Sophie Coulthard / SWNS)

The shocking video footage showed the young girl being bitten by the aggressive animal, with two men also sustaining severe injuries while attempting to restrain it. However, Sophie insists that her XL Bully is a lover of "cuddles" and argues that those who use these dogs for "status" and "protection" would simply switch to another breed if they were banned.

She said: "I genuinely believed this is being turned into a moral panic. Certain let's say retired dog experts have been using this language - 'devil dogs', 'franken-bully' and 'tiger on a lead'. All that is doing is scaring the general public into putting pressure into a knee-jerk reaction."

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Ms Coulthard added her concern about "responsible owners" like herself being "unfairly targeted" due to their choice of breed. She went on to say: "If we've learned anything from the Dangerous Dog Act, it's that banning by type doesn't work. The people who are breeding irresponsibly and owning irresponsibly will just move onto another breed."

She made the decision to adopt an XL Bully dog after seeking a pet that could accompany her on hikes and comfortably reside in her London apartment. She found what she felt is the perfect match in the US breed, which is a mix of the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Bulldog, and English Bulldog.

Sophie, who shares snippets of her life with her dog on her TikTok profile 'Training Billy the Bully', asserted that despite his intimidating size, Billy had never growled and she had diligently worked to establish boundaries for him.

Calling her pooch an ideal "family companion", she explained: "We looked at a Staffordshire Bull Terrie originally, but they tend to have quite little legs. Then we ran into someone with an American bully, and thought 'This is like a Staff but slightly bigger'. Billy is your classic couch potato. If I take him to the park he loves to run around, but he's always on a lead. He loves to play. He's like any kind of happy-go-lucky dog".

She added: "He's massively affectionate. He will literally lie on his back and demand that you stroke him all day, he's really soft. "He is exactly what we wanted, which is a family companion dog. He has never growled or ever shown even a hint of aggression. But I've always been conscious of teaching him 'impulse control' and putting things in place to make sure he has a happy life, but with boundaries."

Sophie said she'd felt "stressed" following calls to outlaw the breed, and said it was important that new legislation was drafted that introduced licences for owners. She went on: "The government is legislating against the dog. But actually if we have a dog register and dog and breeding licensing people would think twice before thinking of getting a dog in the first place. That's not to say that irresponsible people have got their hands on them and realised there's money to be made in a status dog and a protection dog."

Dog bite solicitor, James McNally, has backed Sophie's suggestion, claiming a ban on XL bully dogs wouldn't stop attacks from taking place. And instead, he said the widespread problems with dangerous dogs in Britain goes "much deeper" than a single breed.

He said: "For the last 30 years lawmakers have been struggling to enforce poorly thought-through legislation. The last thing we need is more of the same. Banning XL Bullys isn't going to stop dog attacks. It will get the headlines, but it won't stop the problems as they go much deeper than just one particular type of dog. If they are banned, they aren't just going to disappear overnight, and I suspect all that will happen is a new type of dog will be bred which gets round the ban."

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Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas