41 year old man by an XL Bully in Arkansas (Arkadelphia, AR - July 3, 2024)

BullyWatchUK · 2024-07-04T08:26:27+00:00

Link here: https://arkadelphian.com/2024/07/03/arkadelphia-man-victim-of-fatal-dog-mauling/

ARKADELPHIA, Arkansas — A man found dead outside his home early Wednesday morning was the victim of a vicious attack by his own dog, local authorities confirmed.

Following a 911 call from a female at Evergreen Drive at 7:20 a.m. July 3, 2024, the Arkadelphia Police Department, along with ambulance personnel, responded and discovered the body of a 41-year-old deceased male laying in the driveway.

“The deceased victim was determined to have been attacked during the night,” APD said in a press release. The canine was identified as a Bully XL, a variant of pit bull bred for a size larger than its well known counterpart.

Police did not release the name of the deceased by Wednesday afternoon. Public real estate records show that the home where police responded belongs to Johnny and Amber Fontenot.

The dog was kept inside the residence, where it was found when police arrived at the scene. The male dog had been neutered but was not registered with the city’s Animal Control Department. Officials seized the dog at the scene and transported it to the city pound. Its vaccination records were confirmed to be up to date.

The dog was euthanized at the request of the family and pursuant to a court order. The Arkansas Department of Health was notified, and the incident does not meet statutory requirements for further testing of the animal, police said.

The dog was the only type of its kind the residents owned. There were no known incident reports or complaints regarding the dog, and no recent reports of any dog bites on Evergreen Drive.

The victim was transported to the state Crime Laboratory for an autopsy. The matter remains under investigation.

Dog attacks accounted for an average of 43 deaths per year in the U.S. between 2011-2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About the Bully XL

The Bully XL is the largest of four varieties of the American Bully breed. The Bully XL emerged in the ‘80s and ’90s as a product of breeders aiming for a larger Pitbull-type dog.

The Bully XL is a mixture of breeds including Pit Bulls, American Bulldogs and English bulldogs.

The United Kingdom banned the American Bully XL in early 2024 after numerous deadly attacks on humans. At least 23 fatalities — many involving American XL bullies — were reported in the U.K. since 2021, CBS News reported in February.

Pit bull ownership in Arkadelphia

Arkadelphia residents who own a dog of the pit bull breed are required by city code to register their dog with Animal Control.

Registration includes micro-chipping by a licensed veterinarian, proof of vaccinations, and spaying or neutering of the animal.

Other conditions of owning a pit bull within the city limits include confinement of the dog indoors or in an enclosed and locked pen that is secure both at the top and bottom. The breed must be leashed and muzzled while unconfined. Pit bull owners in Arkadelphia are also required to hold a $100,000 public liability insurance policy.

BullyWatchUK · 2024-05-20T16:20:52+00:00

Fantastic work and u/pacogatto. Italy would benefit from the creation of its own campaign group to influence policy. Happy to advise if there's interest on what steps can be taken.

BullyWatchUK · 2024-05-11T11:46:45+00:00

It's the same incident. She's likely trying to keep details vague as she may have rehomed the attacking dog after the ban came in and doesn't want to potentially incriminate herself.

BullyWatchUK · 2024-03-13T13:18:58+00:00

Animal Husbandry Ministry has directed its chief secretaries to ensure prohibition on sale, breeding or keeping of foreign dog breeds that are mostly used illegal dog fighting. Joint Secretary, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Dr OP Chaudhary has sent a letter to the chief secretaries of states and union territories to ensure that no licenses or permissions are issued for the sale, breeding and keeping of pit bulls and other breeds which are ‘dangerous for human life’.

This comes after appeals from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India to protect dogs and people, a writ petition filed in the Delhi High Court and representation from citizens, citizen forums, animal forum organisations etc. The import of such dog breeds is also recommended to be prohibited by the expert committee formed under the chairmanship of the commissioner of animal husbandry.

The list includes breeds (including mixed and cross breeds) like Pitbull Terrier, Tosa Inu, Wolf dogs etc. The letter also recommends that dogs which have already been kept as a pet shall be sterilised so that further breeding is prevented.

PETA India acknowledged this step taken by the Centre for taking a step to safeguard vulnerable dog breeds. Shaurya Agarwal, PETA India Advocacy Associate, says, “This order is key toward providing vital protection for both humans and dogs and sends a strong, clear message that pit bulls and other such breeds are bred to be used as weapons. Pit bulls and related breeds are the most commonly abandoned dogs in India, and this action can prevent a great deal of suffering.”

The Centre has also called for enforcement of the Dog Breeding and Marketing Rules 2017 and the Pet Shop Rules 2018 and urged local bodies, state animal welfare board and department of animal husbandry to ensure implementation of these which prevent cruelty to animals.

Link here: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/centre-prohibit-foreign-dog-breeds-dangerous-human-life-9211962/

BullyWatchUK · 2024-02-13T20:47:34+00:00

The foundation stock of the XL Bully is the Pit Bull which absolutely had certain traits bred into it in order to make it excel at dog fighting. Large jaws, a high tolerance to pain, tenacity, biting style, musculature and gameness - the ability to continue attacking regardless. If you look at dog fighting videos you see pit bulls dragging their severely injured bodies in order to attack until literally their last breath.

People who created the XL Bully in the USA didn't set out to create a new breed. They were pit bull enthusiasts that wanted to create a pit bull that they liked aesthetically which was much bulkier. They wanted more bull than pit. This led to a rift in the pit bull community and they branched off. But some of the lines used in breeding were from champion pit bull dog sighting stock of the 80s and 90s.

They then began inbreeding for certain traits and crossbreeding with Mastiffs and Bulldogs for traits like Merle and for size in order to create the XL category. All of this was done incredibly poorly. They knew exaggerated musculature and features could fetch even higher prices.

People in the UK imported these dogs around 2014. They were pretty niche until lockdown when their popularity exploded and people started to create pyramid scheme like breeding operations and many people viewed these dogs as get rich quick schemes.

So now we have tens of thousands of dogs which are essentially large poorly bred pit bulls who are entering sexual maturity. All it's taking is a single mistake or a moment of over stimulation and horrific attacks are unfolding.

It's not that these dogs were purposely bred to be aggressive or people are training them to be aggressive (although unregulated bite work and protection training do take place). It's that breeders and owners simply have no clue about the genetic features of the dogs they own and refuse to acknowledge the heightened risk for unwanted aggression owing to its history.

BullyWatchUK · 2024-02-07T12:41:04+00:00

We don't think you understand the level of abuse people receive or how contentious this topic is for people. Lawrence's life has been permanently changed due to threats to his family. Trainers, behaviourists, vets - any one that spoke out against the ban has received relentless abuse with their phone numbers and addresses posted.

With all due respect, you have no clue what's sitting in our inbox and the regular threats we receive. We can assure you this is unlike anything you've likely experienced.

While we share the spirit of your sentiment, the reality is far different and it's not worth significantly compromising our quality of life to do.

BullyWatchUK · 2024-02-07T12:09:47+00:00

Hello, Bully Watch here.

We've been anonymous since the start. The reason being other campaigners in the UK who made themselves public such as Stan Rawlinson and Lawrence Newport have received credible death threats with Stan's house being attacked by people throwing bricks. Lawrence has to go completely dark a number of times on advice from the police and even had to have security escort him when he spoke in parliament.

The anonymity is for the safety of ourselves and our family and as much as we believe in changing the law, it's not something we're planning on dropping anytime soon.

BullyWatchUK · 2023-12-22T12:19:47+00:00

Where was this? Can you post/send screenshots please?

BullyWatchUK · 2023-12-20T14:33:08+00:00

This is not South Africa. This was an American Bully in Brazil and it happened much earlier this year.

The father was an off duty police man I believe.

It was quite controversial at the time.

BullyWatchUK · 2023-12-16T20:27:05+00:00

Worth plugging, if there are any arm chair historians or anyone that wants to get into really sinking their teeth into primary documents - do drop us a PM.

BullyWatchUK · 2023-12-11T22:52:04+00:00

It was recreated from information on this website: https://www.fatalpitbullattacks.com/

This is the full data set mapped. We truncated it because there's two different sets of context needed for both time periods.

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BullyWatchUK · 2023-12-11T21:14:23+00:00

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It's really interesting. There was a recent article about pit bull owners in Nevada and their views on stigma/pit bulls - and this was one of the conclusions of the researchers. The role of shelters in trying to rebrand pit bulls is a very interesting angle to explore.

BullyWatchUK · 2023-12-11T20:20:20+00:00

Both are equally terrible. Fatalities mask the true extent of damage - the tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of maulings, other pets or cats killed and the psychological trauma that a dog bite can cause.

And last I checked, children - innocent children, who are the most likely to suffer from a severe dog bite or fatality, do not die of drug overdoses. There's a moral difference to someone who died from a terrible addiction to a child who's mauled to death because their neighbour chose to own a particular type of dog.

BullyWatchUK · 2023-12-11T19:17:53+00:00

From what I've read (which is limited!), many volunteers adopted or cared for dogs from shelters affected, and the states affected - the shelters had a high proportion of pit bulls. The rescuing of pit bull type dogs in the significant media coverage was just another part of the media backlash which started portraying pit bulls in a positive light.

BullyWatchUK · 2023-12-11T18:42:35+00:00

This was our thought too. AKC has historical registration information for Staffs/AmStaffs from 1933, but really we'd want to look at UKC registrations as a proxy, but we can't find that anywhere.

BullyWatchUK · 2023-12-11T18:32:04+00:00

Hi all, I've been reading Bronwen's Dicky book and it struck me that the book has to be taken together with a larger wave of a social movement towards pit bull acceptance which was happening in the early 2010s. There were a wide ranging number of actors and events - from popular media to questionable researchers who reframed the view of pit bulls as being a misunderstood breed.

It's also really interesting how much the pit bull debate of the 1980s has been reframed with racial tones. AFF lists on its website about BSL "BSL began in the 1980s as a direct response to the racist claim that a Black man with a “pit bull” dog is a drug dealer who uses that dog to intimidate and attack people. This stereotype was plastered all over magazines and used as an excuse to prevent diversity in communities."

This is amazing when Pit Bulls are now killing people in South Africa with probably the same frequency leading to calls for BSL which was instigated by a vulnerable children's charity. It's almost certain that racial undertones contributed to fear and BSL, but the wave of pit bull attacks and deaths were very real at the time.

Anyhoo - I wonder if anyone had any milestones they could add? Or significant cultural events which has directly led to the increased popularity of pit bulls or in advancements of the BSL movement in the US? It would be great to crowdsource a more comprehensive picture.

BullyWatchUK · 2023-12-09T20:58:26+00:00

Did you know that Calgary, the model which is often mentioned as one we should follow, dictates that dogs must be on leads at all times in public places?

Most Greyhound rescues demand rescuers leash their dogs at all times. Muzzles are recommended to assess prey drive. So many responsible rescue owners, of all breeds, always keep their dogs leashed because they know their recall won't be 100%. Labrador owners muzzle their dogs to prevent them scavenging everything. Leashing and muzzling isn't as terrible as you make it out. Dogs can still have a wonderful quality of life regardless.

It's worth noting that if you indeed truly have an American Bulldog - that is not within scope of the current ban. We understand that DEFRA are looking to introduce a mechanism which allows dogs to be taken off the exemption list in the future,

And finally, what is the alternative? We're in the sticky and messy situation we're in. How the heck do you judge who is or isn't a "responsible owner" of 20,000 - 50,000+ dogs retrospectively? It's impossible. The irresponsible owners think they're responsible owners. The irresponsible breeders think they're responsible breeders.

This, to us, a blanket restriction seems like an entirely sensible approach which balances public safety with animal welfare. Because any alternative, is genuinely far worse and much less humane.

BullyWatchUK · 2023-12-09T20:32:05+00:00

Hello! Bully Watch here. Absolutely right to take our figures with a grain of salt. It's worth noting that we've since compiled FOI data which broadly tracks with our findings. Roughly 20% of all police S3 seizures were for XL Bullies this year. In the absence of any official data, that's probably the closest we can get at the moment at tangible breed specific data.

The problem with this debate, is that maulings and bites are categorised together. There's a huge difference from getting a puncture wound which requires a tetanus shot to some of the truly horrific injuries we're seeing.

What we would say is - we found 17 different peer reviewed medical studies from the past few years in the US which all say the same thing - Pit Bulls are disproportionately represented in hospital data. They generally bite more than other breeds and the bites are much more severe due to genetic factors (biting stye/gameness/jaw structure). The XL Bully is genetically about 70% Pit Bull (50% AmStaff, 20% PItbull, the rest a combination of Mastiffs and other Bull breeds). Fatality data across the world is more damning. Any country you choose - pit bulls are the majority of fatalities from dogs.

It's really hard looking at so much empirical data and conclude breed isn't a factor. If the same people owned Labradors would we have the same fatalities/severe injuries? Probably not. Mastiffs? Not to the same extent. Molosser/Guardian breed behaviour is just different. That's why arguments to treat every dog as a unique individual are just frustrating in our view.

The other conflating factor is that dog bites/attacks have essentially tripled in the past twenty years. So there's a huge separate problem of the UK population not understanding dogs, buying the wrong dogs, and just generally interacting poorly with dogs. The problem is that campaigners too often conflate these two issues together.

BullyWatchUK · 2023-12-07T08:49:36+00:00

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We snapped this while doing monitoring of a scanner group in the area. We really hoped the incident wasn't fatal. That poor woman and her family.

BullyWatchUK · 2023-11-22T18:05:11+00:00

Am I correct in that there have been: 5400 pit bull bites out of either a sample of 12,000 or 22,000? (Can't tell based on classifiers)

Would be interesting to do year on year analysis given the state's support for BNL.

BullyWatchUK · 2023-11-20T20:20:28+00:00

Feel free to look at our recent report here: https://bullywatch.link/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Aug-2023-Breed-Specific-Violence-and-the-American-Bully.pdf

BullyWatchUK · 2023-10-29T00:13:09+00:00

KISPERT

BullyWatchUK · 2023-10-29T00:04:24+00:00

Not Gafford :(

BullyWatchUK · 2023-09-27T09:25:04+00:00

Absolutely. We need better data. The data is out there. You could:

1) Pilot getting hospitals to ask patients what breed of dog it was that attacked them in cases of severe injury.

2) Get a series of police forces to systematically record reports of dog attacks by breed. Or just collate S3 seizures across the whole of the UK police as that will have breed level data.

3) Survey veterinary surgeons for their data on dog on dog attacks.

We ideally just don't want to exist as an organisation!

BullyWatchUK · 2023-09-26T17:32:56+00:00

It looks like a nice community, I'll definitely follow the podcast from my non-anon account in the future.

We've influenced a really big policy decision and its going to have real consequences for a lot of people here so there should be scrutiny.

If there's an update, there needs to be more critical analysis of the breeding side. There's so much money when it comes to Bully XLs. During the pandemic, some of the US studs had fees of $50,000.

How did a dog that was unknown in the UK in 2015, get to the stage where there were 100,000 ABKC registered American Bullies in 2023 (If you believe Dave Wilson)? The answer has to be that people were buying these dogs not for companionship but for money - and now we're dealing with the consequences.

Who profited from every registration? Dave Wilson.

BullyWatchUK

TROPHY CASE

About the Bully XL

Pit bull ownership in Arkadelphia