Samantha Wood’s XL bully dog Kano and daughter River
American bully XL dog owners say a proposed ban on the breed will not solve concerns around aggression.
The Scottish SPCA said it would not stop people from creating another aggressive and strong cross breed.
Samantha Wood, from Aberdeen, told BBC Radio Scotland’s Drivetime programme how she trusted her bully XL Kano around her young child.
The XL is the largest type of American bully, however it is not recognised by the main British dog associations, such as the Kennel Club.
It can weigh more than nine stone (60kg) and is strong enough to overpower an adult.
Ms Wood said her three-year-old bully XL was gentle and good-natured.
“I’ve never had any issues with my dog,” she said.
“I have a nine-month-old daughter and when I fell pregnant he was always lying on my bump and protecting me.
Kano with owner Samantha Wood
“And then when my daughter arrived, we introduced him slowly and he was perfectly fine.
“He’s so gentle with her and he loves her, he just licks her face.”
Ms Wood told BBC Scotland that a ban would be “ridiculous” and she was “petrified” of losing her dog if it were to become law.
Owning a banned dog can result in an unlimited fine and a prison sentence of up to six months.
She said: “What gives them the right to say that that entire breed of dog is dangerous?
“If someone was to go out and murder someone, we don’t all get judged by that.
“Some dogs have obviously not had the correct training and think it’s acceptable to act that way, but the dogs that have had the correct training are being branded with this.
“It’s how they’re brought up and it’s how they’re treated, it’s the environment they’re in.
“It’s the owner that makes the dog – it’s not the dog.”
Jayne Dendle, from Save Our Seized Dogs, said a ban would not solve the problem and urged action against irresponsible owners.
She lost her friend and colleague Adam Watts, who ran a kennel in Auchterhouse, after he was mauled to death by a bully cross breed.
“That was a dog that had already been seized from the owner and placed with Adam while the owner was involved in a court case,” she said.
“That dog had its ears cropped, it was owned by a drug dealer, so you can imagine the kind life that dog had had.
“As a result of that life, he just could not be rehabilitated and if anyone could’ve done it Adam could’ve done it.”
‘Breed bans don’t work’
She added: “Adam never saw the wrong in the dog, he always thought each dog could be turned around.
“Tragically, that was the dog that couldn’t be turned around.”
Ms Dendle urged the government to tackle backyard breeders, as a ban “would not solve the problem”.
She said: “The majority of XL bullies are wonderful family pets but there is some very bad breeding that has slipped through with backyard breeders just breeding for rare colours and size, not temperament.
“If you ban the XL bully then they’re going to come up with something bigger and better which will circumvent this ban.”
She called for “more robust and workable measures that had been proven to work in other countries” such as the Calgary model in Canada and the Blue Dog project in the Netherlands.
She added: “We need the police to focus on dogs that are causing concern in the community rather than taking well-behaved dogs from homes because of their appearance. It doesn’t work.
“The public needs to be kept safe, but the ban is not the answer for doing that.”
