Criminals are exploiting American bully XL dogs because they believe the vicious-looking breed could put off police from approaching them, MPs have heard.
Animal experts gave evidence to the Commons’ Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee yesterday in response to a proposed Government ban on the dog.
David Martin, group animal welfare advisor at vet firm IVC Evidensia, said: “The XL’s, in my experience, are being kept for a different purpose [than dog fighting] in the criminal fraternity.
“They are being used as status dogs.”
He said parts of the “criminal underworld” want to use the breed as a “protection dog” to deter unwanted attention.
Dr Martin added: “As a ‘’you don’t want to mess with me because I’ve got a great big lump at the end of the lead’. It may be an aggressive dog or it may look like an aggressive dog but you don’t want to tackle it.
“Speaking to a number of people involved in this sort of this, they believe they are less likely to be bothered by the police than if they were carrying weapons and they consider the dog to be a weapon, effectively.
“They crop the ears to make them look tougher.”
Rishi Sunak has announced that the American XL bully will be banned in the UK following a spate of serious attacks, some fatal, in recent years.
Police this week shot dead an XL bully dog in the grounds of a primary school because it attacked a woman in her back garden and escaped.
Officers arrived to find the woman, aged in her 60s, being mauled by her pet at a property in Brisley, Norfolk, on Monday afternoon.
The dog ran off but it was found a short time later after someone had managed to secure it to a post in a school car park.
Children and teachers were still on site at the time.
Police tried to contact several vets to help sedate the dog but none were available.
Six of the 10 fatal dog attacks in the UK last year were linked to XL bullies, figures have shown.
People have started handing in XL bully dogs, with some requesting that their pet be put down, after the announcement of an impending ban.
Dr Martin said: “We are already getting clients presenting dogs asking for them to be euthanised because they’re concerned about the effects of a ban.”
Experts warned MPs that banning the breed is not the answer to eradicating dangerous dogs.
