An XL Bully lover has slammed a “stereotype” of “tracksuit wearing and unemployed owners from council estates” as being one of the main reasons why the “dangerous” breed is now banned in England. Amy Lambert, 36, lives in Quinton, Birmingham, with her husband Mark, 37, a roofer.
The couple have three children Harry, 13, Abbi, 10 and Vinnie, four along with two female XL Bullies – Luna, four and Nova, two.
Their dogs have had to be registered in accordance to a new ban introduced on Thursday, February 1, which now makes it illegal to breed, buy, sell or even advertise the breed.
The government is desperately trying to regulate the number of them already with families in England and Wales after an increasing spate of attacks, resulting in 23 deaths over the last three years.
Owners must also walk their dogs on a lead at all times, and ensure their animal is muzzled. Amy, who had no issue with complying with the new rules, said: “We have always had dogs – and once had Shar Peis which are meant to be more aggressive and we have never had any issues with our dogs.
“My husband’s friend had an XL Bully and we spent so much time with them and just fell in love with the breed. It was just before lockdown as that’s when a lot of people started getting them.
“People got them during lockdown when they were off work and couldn’t put the time into looking after them when they were going back to work.”
But, she believes a “stereotypical” owner has portrayed in the media to live a certain lifestyle.
“They wear tracksuits, all live in council houses and don’t have jobs – from what I have seen in the XL Bully community it’s a lot different,” she added.
The mum-of-two thinks the UK ban is going to achieve very little and the only way to do this is via licensing and making the rules around buying dogs stricter. A dog licence is required in some countries just to be the keeper of any breed of dog.
She says those who haven’t met the register-deadline have a lot to answer for, saying the process has been “really straightforward” – but muzzling them has been more of a challenge.
“It’s not been easy but they are getting better at it. When you are walking a dog on a muzzle people look at you differently,” she said.
“We get a lot of negativity – not so much face-to-face but online. They see these things [in the media] like ‘killer beasts’ and ‘devil dogs’ and that’s what people think.”
She added: “Some people have been scared to follow the rules. But some are living up to [being] the kind of owners people say we are and they are the reason the dogs got banned.”
Those who fail to comply with the rules will face their dogs being destroyed, an unlimited fine and a potential criminal record. Owners who have registered their pet, and had them neutered must be able to prove they have done so.
Mrs Lambert continued: “It’s been quite distressing and the kids don’t understand everything. The kids have been upset for months and really panicking someone is going to take them away. It has been really, really upsetting.”
Lily Collins, 24, is a customer service advisor from Redditch and her XL Bully dog Doug – a rescue pup – is 22 months old. Like his owner, he’s a social media influencer too with 16,000 followers on his Instagram account @doug.thexlbully.
Lily said: “He is wonderful, he is so loving, he is just a bundle of joy and anyone who sees him absolutely loves him. We are very, very strict with his training and have worked really hard the last year.
“It felt very wrong doing it [registering him] but unfortunately it is something that we have had to do and he is booked in to be neutered.”
Like Amy, Lily doesn’t agree with the ban and instead favours a licensing approach as less scrupulous owners are treating them as a “status symbol”. She said: “It’s so easy to have a huge, powerful dog in your hands and banning them is not the answer to that.”
“For me if you are bringing a dog up in the wrong way and show them the wrong behaviours you get the wrong behaviours back.”
Lily feels that the ban has changed her as a person – but ultimately it was something she knew she had to comply with.
She said: “I feel like you don’t know what rights you have and are constantly living in fear. I feel like the whole ban has changed me as a person. I still get upset but it is what it is.”
