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Tragedy as XL Bully tore apart and killed pet dog 'in seconds'

02 June 2024 , 12:34
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Sully was killed
Sully was killed 'almost instantly' by the XL Bully (Image: Submitted)

A "ferocious" XL Bully burst out of a home and killed a pug "in seconds".

Christine was walking her daughter Jo's dog, four-year-old pug Sultan, when the dog "smashed through the fence" and pounced. Sultan, also known as Sully, died instantly, leaving both Christine and Jo "absolutely distraught".

Paul Walker, a dog walker who regularly looked after Sully, said: "Jo's dogs; Penny and Sully, are like celebrities in the local dog world. When I'm not booked in Jo's mum Christine takes them for a potter around the block. Christine said as she walked past this house a young kid opened the front door and this dog came flying out. It smashed through the fence as if it wasn't even there. It gripped Sully and he was dead within a matter of seconds.

"She said it was ferocious. Poor Sully was killed instantly. Christine is in her late 70s. For a little old lady to witness something of that ferocity must have been horrific."

The ordeal happened in Darwen, Lancashire, on Friday afternoon. Jo text Paul, who swapped his 14-year career in estate agency for a dog sitting and walking business, the devastating news and the 49-year-old man has been supporting his friends since. The offending dog has been put down by police.

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Paul, an XL Bully owner himself, suggests that the breed's problems began during the Covid pandemic. He said that with the surge in pet ownership during lockdown, where up to 3.2 million households acquired pets, XL Bullies were bred by "irresponsible people" who didn't socialise the dogs properly with other animals.

"Those puppies weren't able to socialise or be trained and that's why over the last year or so, as that generation of dogs reach adult maturity, we've been seeing so many attacks by XL Bullies," Paul told Lancs Live.

The American bully breed is thought to have emerged in the late 1980s in the US from crossbreeding American pit bull terriers and American Staffordshire terriers. The XL variant can tip the scales at over nine stone and possess enough strength to overpower an adult human.

Since December 31, 2023, it has been illegal to sell, give away, abandon or breed from an XL Bully. They must be kept on a lead and muzzled in public after new legislation was brought in following a spate of dog attacks.

Owning an XL Bully without an exemption certificate was outlawed in February of this year. Older dogs must also be neutered by June 30, or the end of 2024 if the dog is younger than one and exempt dogs must be kept in a secure place.

A spokesperson for Lancashire Constabulary said: "We were called at shortly after 9.15am to a report that a dog believed to be an XL Bully had escaped through a hole in the fence of a property on Chapel's Brow in Darwen and attacked another dog, sadly causing fatal injuries. Officers attended and the XL Bully was secured and later put down. Enquiries are ongoing."

Amy Fenton

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