The owner of an eight stone XL bully dog who lets other people’s children pet her giant pooch has hit out at people calling for a ban on the dog breed following a spate of attacks.
Ellee Keegan, 26, from Bromsgrove in Birmingham, has urged people not to ‘bully her bully’ as she says her American XL Bully named Costa is a ‘loving dog’.
Ellee, who bought her pet for just under £3,000 18 months ago, claimed he has never attacked anyone and is a ‘big softie’ at heart.
She said she trusts her 50kg mutt under supervision around babies and is not worried to let children pet her pooch on walks either.
Calls for the dog breed to be banned follow a spate of attacks, with the most recent taking place this weekend in Birmingham where it is believed a Bully mauled an 11-year-old girl before chasing and attacking two men who tried to save her.
Ellee Keegan (pictured), 26, who lets other people’s children pet her XL Bully has hit out at people calling for a ban on the dog breed following a spate of attacks
Ellee Keegan, 26, from Bromsgrove in Birmingham , has urged people not to ‘bully her bully’ as she says her American XL Bully named Costa (pictured) is a ‘loving dog’
Ellee, who bought her pet for just under £3,000 18 months ago, claimed he has never attacked anyone and is a ‘big softie’ at heart
This week the Home Secretary Suella Braverman vowed to ban the breed under the Dangerous Dog Act list.
If the government is successful with adding XL bullies to the list, they will be the fifth breed to be banned under the 1991 Act, which includes the Pitbull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and the Fila Braziliero.
A top plastic surgeon who has treated victims of American Bully XL dog has also joined calls for the bloodthirsty breed to be banned in Britain.
Richard Baker claims that his clinic in Slough treats two people every week who have been mauled by dogs in an ‘unrelenting flow’ of attacks that ‘must be costing the NHS a fortune’.
He fears XL Bully dogs were responsible for the vast majority of savagings and warned the injuries the deadly hounds can inflict look more like ‘gunshot wounds’ with bone, muscle and tendon ‘hanging out’ all over the place.
But Ellee believes the banning of this breed will not solve the issue and claims the behaviour of a pooch lies at the fault of its owner and the dog cannot be blamed for their actions.
She claimed lots of dogs attack people every day and doesn’t understand why people single out her breed for blame.
The construction worker believes any type of dog can become violent if they are not cared for properly and said legislation should be focussed on prosecuting the owners who do not train their pups properly which result in these attacks happening.
Ellee said: ‘[Banning the breed] is not going to change a thing. If they put the XL bully on the banned list, they will just move on to focus on another dog like the Cane Corso.
‘There are already four dogs on the banned list and it clearly hasn’t changed anything.
‘My heart goes out the 11-year-old girl and man and their families and it is devastating what has happened but it is clearly not the dog’s fault.
‘I have been around a lot of XL bullies and they are the most loving dogs. It is the way the owners raise these dogs and it is on the owner.
‘If you put something in place for anyone caught with a dangerous dog, a dog out of control, or a dog that has attacked someone, they should be the one prosecuted.
‘They should either be fined, sent to jail or not allowed to own dogs.
‘Banning breeds is not working and putting something in place for their owners will change how people think.
‘If you don’t think you have control of your dog, they should be muzzled and kept on a leash and if you are caught not doing this there should be serious consequences.
‘I think by prosecuting the person it will make owners think about how they are with their dog whilst out and how they trained and look after their dog.’
The most recent XL Bully attack took place this weekend in Birmingham where it is believed a Bully mauled an 11-year-old girl before chasing and attacking two men who tried to save her
Footage of the savage dog attack in Birmingham that left an 11-year-old girl and two men injured
Ellee said since having her 18-month-old XL bully she has put him through extensive training and believes every owner should put their canine through this regardless of its breed.
Ellee said: ‘I don’t have any children myself but a couple of my friends have babies which he has been around on a leash with supervision and he’s been fine.
‘He’s had kids coming up to him asking to stroke him and I think he just knows when there is a child around because he is very very gentle and when kids are around, he’ll just let them pet him and he’s very calm.
‘If I had kids I’d feel comfortable with Costa being around them.
‘I’ve trained him since he was eight weeks old. I’ve put my hand in his food bowl. I’ve touched him when he is eating.
‘I’ve touched him in places that kids might grab like his tail and his ears and he is now so used to this and I would trust him, obviously under supervision with my child if I had one.’
Sophie Coulthard, 39, has also joined calls against banning of the breed says she feels ‘targeted’ over her choice of pet.
She owns a one-year-old dog called Billy who ‘loves cuddles’ and has never growled.
She says ‘a moral panic’ had arisen around the powerful breed of bulldog following several high-profile attacks on youngsters.
And she warned against ‘knee-jerk’ changes to the law banning the breed – saying irresponsible owners should be at the forefront of new legislation.
Ellee said any type of dog can become violent if they are not looked after properly and said the stigma against XL bullies needs to be broken despite the recent attacks.
Ellee said: ‘When we first got Costa, he was the most well-behaved boy.
‘But then they enter something called the “teenage faze” and they want to go off on their own more.
‘He kind of went backwards and I couldn’t walk him on the lead because he was pulling me. It wasn’t fair on me or the dog.
‘So, I went to a dog trainer who helped me on leash control and command recall and we did this for six or seven months. I think every person should go through this with their dog.
Ana Paun was walking to the shops with her 18-year-old sister when the powerful breed of bulldog leapt up at her from a bus shelter
Ana remained in hospital for a day and was allowed home to recover last night with a bandaged arm
‘If I left my dog in a cage every day and didn’t give him fresh water, proper nutrients and exercise then of course he [the dog] would be going out of his mind.
‘It is how they are raised and the environment that they are living in [that causes them to become dangerous].
‘Any dog has it in them [to be aggressive]. Look at German Shepherds who are Police dogs.
‘They go out and after people and latch onto people. They have got it in them to be very powerful and dangerous dogs.
‘It is all down to control and their training. I’ve been through hours and hours of training with Costa and he will now listen and respect me.’
Despite Ellee saying her XL bully Costa has never attacked another animal or human, she still never lets him off his leash on walks.
Ellee said: ‘When I take my dog out for a walk, I never let Costa off the leash but this is just personal preference.
‘I trust my dog 99.9% of the time but there is always that small slim chance that he will attack someone but he never has.
‘Another reason why I keep him on the leash is because I’m frightened of him being attacked by another dog.
‘He has been attacked by so many dogs on his walks.
‘Recently he was attacked quite badly by a Labrador. Luckily, he was on his leash so I could pull him away.
‘He [Costa] has never retaliated and will just come and hide behind my legs and cry.
‘He is probably attacked one or two times a week and I think it is because he is a bigger dog.’
Ellee said if the 1991 Act is passed against XL bullies and Costa was taken away from her it would be like losing a child.
Ellee believes banning the XL Bully breed will not solve the issue and claims the behaviour of a pooch lies at the fault of its owner and the dog cannot be blamed for their actions
Ellee said since having her 18-month-old XL bully she has put him through extensive training and believes every owner should put their canine through this regardless of its breed
She is now trying to break the stigma towards XL bullies and has created a TikTok account to show how gentle Costa is
Ellee said: ‘When I walk Costa people make little remarks like “dangerous dog” or “he should be wearing a muzzle”.
‘I get people crossing the road when they see Costa coming too.
‘I get it [abuse] every day. It breaks my heart. If you went out for a walk every day and someone shouted abuse at you, that is what it’s like for my dog. He’s a big softie.
‘Lots of people love seeing Costa on their walks but you get that one person who ruins it and thinks Costa is the worst dog in the world.
‘To think that I could lose Costa or for someone to tell me that my dog is dangerous, this would absolutely destroy me. He’s not just a dog, he’s family. He’s my son and he’s a therapy dog.
‘It would cause more harm than good and it would be like taking away a child. I don’t have any children so he is like my child.
‘It’s the small number of people that don’t raise these dogs correctly that could ruin it for everyone.’
Ellee is now trying to break the stigma towards XL bullies and has created a TikTok account to show how gentle Costa is and hashtags ‘don’t bully my bully’ and ‘don’t bully my breed’ in many of her videos.
Ellee said: ‘Just because you see a handful of bullies on the news doesn’t mean you can put them all in the same box. It’s not like this.
‘You see people that steal but you don’t fear everyone you meet. So don’t do this with bullies.
‘It is heartbreaking that people are being attacked by dogs but the abuse that XL bullies are getting is not fair.
‘I see dog attacks from different breeds but you don’t see this [on the news], but when one XL bully attacks someone it’s straight on the news.
‘Costa got attacked by a Labrador the other day, you wouldn’t see that going on the news.’