Just how dangerous is the American Bully?
Is this an isolated incident?
I've been focused on this issue for months and here's what we know about the most dangerous dog breed in British history 🧵👇
Deaths to dogs have been remarkably low for decades, with most years seeing 3 deaths.
In 2022 that changed. 10 people died to dogs, including 4 children.
One breed is responsible for this unprecedented increase, and for 70% of all deaths to dogs since 2021: the American Bully.
But it's not just deaths, the American Bully leads in attacks.
This includes both humans and pets.
Doctors are seeing horrifying injuries, mostly on children.
Vets are seeing dogs ripped apart. One week in July this year, one dog a day was killed by an American Bully.
What's causing this? Several of those killed were experienced dog handlers, killed by their own Bully. Is it the owner?
No. The victims are not to blame.
Bred from fighting Pitbulls in the early 90s, and then inbred for size and strength: these dogs were bred for violence.
Dog fighting in the US was legal until the 1970s, and still widespread until 2010. Bullies came from breeding fight winning American Pit Bull Terriers and then inbreeding them repeatedly.
One famous breeding Bully was so inbred it has the same great grandfather 4 times over.
The UK banned Pitbulls in 1991. The breed is responsible for 60% of deaths to dogs in the US. And - even when banned -still managed to be responsible for a third of deaths in the UK.
But if Pitbulls types are banned by UK law, how did the American Bully slip through the net?
Whilst the law bans all Pitbull types, government guidance has not kept pace with breeding.
Gov defines "Pitbull Types" as "looks like a Pitbull as defined in a magazine from 1977". Genuinely.
American Bully is a larger, inbred Pitbull, which looks *slightly* different: Legal.
This can easily be changed. Amazingly easily.
The government can add a new breed to the banned list immediately. No law needs to pass, just a signature from SoS for @DefraGovUK.
Or, government guidance can just be updated to make clear that the Bully is a Pitbull type. Banned.
So why hasn't the government done so? Why haven't they acted?
Is this unpopular?
No. A YouGov poll shows massive public support across every political party. Leave or Remainer, Labour or Conservative: vast majorities want a ban.
Dog owners support a ban 2 to 1.
So what's stopping them?
There is a HUGE lobby, led by the @RSPCA_official, which advocates against ANY BANS.
Worse than just stopping a ban on the Bully, they advocate for a removal of all breed bans. Meaning a return of the Pitbull and the bred-for-slave-hunting Brasileiro.
This means that, in Britain's unprecedented dangerous dog crisis the RSPCA has run a campaign against ANY BANS.
They've emailed their members to lobby the government, they've gotten major news outlets to stop calling for a ban. They've got the ear of government.
They do this off the back of poor evidence, whilst claiming that they "represent the science".
So myself and several others put together a report. We look at what the evidence *actually* tells us: breed matters.
You can read it here:
bullywatch.link/wp-content/upl…
Myself and several others have been trying for months to get these dangerous dogs off Britain's streets.
But we're fighting an uphill battle against a major lobbying group.
The national news outlets trust them. The government listens to them.
And people and pets keep dying.
It took 30 years, and government asleep at the wheel, for a dangerous breed to be back in Britain.
Breed bans work. The legislation was written so government can react to a crisis.
It is time they did so. Now.
Government can stop this. Immediately. It requires nothing more than the flick of a pen.
How much longer do we need to wait? How many more maulings, dead children and torn apart dogs do we need for the government to act?
Ban the American Bully.
bullywatch.link/write-to-your-…
My video on this:
My viral blog post:
lawrencenewport.co.uk/p/why-are-so-m…
My article for the Spectator:
spectator.co.uk/article/why-is…
For the Telegraph:
telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/2…
And my most recent:
telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/0…
Let's get this done. Let's stop the unnecessary deaths and unprecedented violence. Let's stop this madness.
Ban the Bully. Now.
bullywatch.link/write-to-your-…
Sign the petition:
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/6428…
When will @Conservatives act?
Use the link to write to your MP.
Sign the petition.
We have to force their hand - before more children, like in the video above, are mauled for jogging past an American Bully.
It seems @SuellaBraverman has heard and understands action is needed, right now!
Amazing to see:
This isn't a confirmed ban but.... It's something.
We can hope the government recognises the necessity of a ban and acts before anyone else (or any other pet) is maimed or killed.
Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.
A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.