Home Secretary Suella Braverman wants to ban American XL Bully dogs.
Ms Braverman says she is seeking “urgent advice” on the breed after an XL Bully attacked an 11-year-old girl in Birmingham on Saturday.
She said: “It is a clear and lethal danger to our communities, particularly to children.
Dog ownership during the pandemic spiked and last year Dundee trainers Jess Probst and Loraine Kidd told The Courier many people bought bigger, powerful breeds without the knowledge required to train them or keep them contained.
The XL Bully is a type of American Bully, recognised as an official breed in 2004 by the UK Bully Kennel Club.
As a ban on XL Bullies is explored, we look at the spate of incidents involving the bulldog breed in Dundee.
American XL Bully an out-of-control killer
The most notorious recent case involved Peter Fyfe‘s out-of-control American XL Bully.
It – and he – was responsible for mauling Amanda Williams and her smaller dog, Coco, on Victoria Road, shortly after it had rag-dolled a Shih Tzu in another savage attack.
The animal was taken from Fyfe and placed in a kennels in Auchterhouse, where it killed father-of-five Adam Watts.
Fyfe, 48, admitted being responsible for the dog during both street attacks and was banned from keeping animals and placed on curfew.
Shocking footage later emerged of the powerful pet hauling Fyfe off his feet and along the ground as he tried to control it after one of the attacks.
Ms Williams said Fyfe’s dog was “on a mission”.
“As soon as I saw that dog trying to attack my dog, I punched it in the mouth (and grabbed her own dog away).
“I had to punch it in the mouth.
“There’s no doubt that dog would have got hold of my puppy and it would be dead.”
Nine days later, 83-year-old Eunice Gow could only watch helplessly on Caird Avenue as the out-of-control Bully grabbed her Shih Tzu, Bobby, by the neck and shook it.
Luckily, other people were there to help and the attack was caught on video.
“If we had been in another street, a quieter street, I think that dog would have killed Bobby,” Mrs Gow said.
The Bully was destroyed after its fatal attack at the kennels.
Dundee man frightened to walk pet after attack by XL Bully-type dog
A Dundee pensioner says he is traumatised and too scared to walk the family dog after an attack by a white bulldog-type breed.
John Reid, 78, from Hilltown, was left bleeding on the ground after he and his daughter’s nine-year-old Westie, Charlie, were attacked by an XL Bully-type dog in Strathmartine in July.
He said: “Our physical wounds are healing but the mental wounds aren’t.
“I am still in shock and feel traumatised by what happened; I keep having flashbacks, I can’t unsee what I saw that day and it has left me very nervous.
“I can see that dog rushing at us and pinning Charlie down by the throat – I can’t get it out of my head.”
He added: “I was relatively lucky, it could have been so much worse.”
John said: “It’s a shame because the dog just wasn’t controlled properly.”
Delivery man savaged by XL Bully-type dog
Dundee delivery driver Paul Degernier, 43, was attacked on Honeygreen Drive in Linlathen in February and had to undergo surgery for puncture wounds.
He said the dog, an XL Bully type, leapt past a woman who answered the door and grabbed his arm.
The former chef said: “I was in the foetal position when the dog let go – I thought it was going to go for my neck.
“My clothes were torn and I could see two substantial puncture wound marks to my arm.”
He was thankful the injury to his arm was not as bad as he first feared it would be
“I’d expected it to be hanging off,” he said.
He added: “I blame the owner… With the right training a dog wouldn’t behave like this.
“My fear is, though, if that had been a child going to that door, what would have happened?”
Further Dundee dog attacks
Gary Myles‘ American Bulldog bit three men in a little over two weeks in Aboyne Avenue.
Arnie hospitalised all three men with leg wounds and the irresponsible owner admitted his role at court in March.
The dog was saved from destruction because, the sheriff said, it had been “provoked, up to a point” as it was reacting to a group of men wielding baseball bats outside Myles’ home, including being struck itself.
A woman was charged under the Dangerous Dogs Act in August 2022 after a 15-year-old was seriously injured in a house in Rosemount Road, Ardler in August 2022 by a dog described by police as an XL Bully-type dog.
Meanwhile, in November that same year, police launched an investigation after a five-year-old was mauled in the Charleston area of the city.
Two dogs were removed from the Gourdie Terrace property and a man and woman were later charged.
