American bully XL Birmingham meet-up can change minds - owner

Jake Harris said he only expected 10 or 15 people to turn up to the meet, but now expects many more

An American bully XL owner who has arranged a meet-up of the breed said he hoped it would help reverse plans to ban the dogs.

The prime minister said the breed would be banned after a spate of attacks, including one in Staffordshire that left 52-year-old Ian Price dead.

Five days earlier, an 11-year-old was also attacked in Birmingham.

Jake Harris said interest in a meeting in the city with fellow bully XL owners had "blown-up" in recent days.

The 21-year-old owns three of them and said the event was originally expected to attract a dozen people - many friends - and their bully XLs to mark the first birthday of one of his dogs.

However, since then he has opened it up to others on his social media accounts, actively encouraging other owners and families to come along.

West Midlands Police said it was aware of the planned event and was making efforts to contact the organisers to discuss their plans.

Mr Harris said his three dogs act like "babies"

"My bully meet wasn't meant to explode as much as it has, only 10 or 15 people... it's blown my head off!" Mr Harris said.

He said he had urged people to only attend if their pets were well behaved and obedient.

He added he believed bully XLs had been singled out and were not treated the same as other breeds involved in attacks.

Mr Harris said his own three dogs - Skyler, Riz and Kali - were like "babies" and lived happily alongside his cats.

However, he said people's reaction to the breed had changed in recent weeks and he had only felt comfortable taking them for a walk when it was dark.

"I get dirty looks and comments when I walk them now," he said.

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The dog lover said although he had been shocked to hear about the recent attacks, he was frustrated that people were blaming dogs who had not done anything wrong.

Ian Price died after he was attacked by two suspected American bully XLs

The American bully XL is the largest variation of the American bully breed, a type of bulldog developed by breeding several dogs including the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Bulldog and English Bulldog.

Just four dog breeds are currently banned in the UK - the pit bull terrier, the Japanese tosa, the Dogo Argentino and the Fila Brasileiro.

West Midlands Police statistics show that suspected Bully XLs have been making up a greater proportion of dogs seized by officers in recent years.

In 2018, suspected bully XLs made up 3% of the 361 dogs seized. By the end of May this year, of the 407 dogs seized, 96 were believed to be bully XLs (23.5%), far outstripping the number of banned breeds seized (11).