Should These Dogs Be Banned?

[naomi24]

Following yet another attack by an American Bully XL, a powerful dog that has killed people in the UK, Suella Braverman is ordering urgent advice on banning them. Your thoughts?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66770328

[choux]

I say yes, sadly. Knowing the problem is with owners and unscrupulous breeders does not help the families of victims. There was a good story on BBC Breakfast today and Sally Nugent interviewed Emma Whitfield, whose son Jack aged 10 years, died after such an attack in Caerphilly in 2021. Emma is working hard to bring about a change in the cases of "dangerous dogs" and, with 10 recorded deaths in England and Wales in the last 5 years I wish her success.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001qgyp/breakfast-12092023 Starts at 2:15 into link.

Worrying to see how many such dogs are available to buy:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/deadly-bully-type-dogs-sale-30917386?int_source=nba

[Ellipsis]

We have the Dangerous Dogs Act which has only 4 breeds listed. The last breed that was added to the list was in 1991.

Perhaps the Dangerous Dogs Act should be abolished, if there are no such thing as dangerous dogs, but as long as the Act remains then surely it should be relevant and up-to-date, and the American Bully XL should be on it.

The argument is a bit like the one of "Guns are not dangerous, it's the owners that are the problem". Guns are licensed and regulated, dogs are not (not before a problem, anyway). In fact, it's the combination of the owner and the weapon that's the issue, and an American Bully XL is a weapon, more so than a chihuahua or a labrador, and needs to be regulated to keep normal people safe.