XL Bully owner ‘living in fear’ and spat at in street ahead of breed ban

An XL Bully owner has opened up about the harassment she gets after the government announced plans to ban the breed.

Yas Lee owns an 11-month-old XL puppy named Dinosaur, and despite her dog's size and fearsome reputation, she says she is now afraid to leave the house after being spat on and having sticks and rocks thrown at her and her pooch in the street. The 26-year-old, who also has a nine-year-old son, says the government has misconstrued the breed.

"Grown men have actually tried taking him off me because they think I can’t control him," Yas told the Lancashire Post. "People grab their children and cross the road when they see us, calling him a dangerous beast."

READ MORE: XL Bully sellers desperately flogging beasts on Gumtree for just £350 ahead of ban

For more information and stories about XL Bullies, click here.

Yas got Dinosaur as a puppy back in February of this year and said she's had no problems with him so far. "My XL Bully is sweet, goofy, clever and gentle," she added. "Dogs are the product of their environment. He came from a reputable breeder and because I am his owner I have full control over this beautiful boy.

"It’s discrimination against a dog. These dogs don’t judge us on how we look, so why should we judge them?"

Painter Yas now makes art celebrating the "beauty of the Bully," which she posts to her Facebook page. The artist is flogging one of her canvases to raise money for the RSPCA. 

She captioned a photo of the work: "226 hours, 14 days, a thousand tears later.. I decided to paint a large A1 canvas full of BULLY breed dogs to show the variety and beauty in the bully breed!"

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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced last month the ban on XL Bullies would come into force later this year following a spate of attacks, the Daily Star previously reported. He said a "pattern of behaviour" had prompted the decision.

"It is clear this is not about a handful of badly trained dogs," he said. "While owners already have a responsibility to keep their dogs under control, I want to reassure people that we are urgently working on ways to stop these attacks and protect the public."

If outlawed, XL Bullies will join the Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Brasileiro on the banned dogs list, making it illegal to own, breed or sell them. And although the ban isn't in force yet, it's already starting to have an effect on owners and sellers alike.

Breeders and pet owners are now flogging their animals for low prices in a bid to get rid of the dogs, with one advert listing the animals for as little as £350. One Bully vendor told the Daily Star they had dropped the price of the dogs as they just wanted the animals to go to a safe home.

"There's no point putting them up for stupid amounts of money and people buying it and then they're stuck in this situation [of owning a banned dog]. It's not fair," the seller told the Daily Star. "If someone came along and messaged saying, 'We'll give one [of the dogs] a good home, but I haven't got any money,' I'd be absolutely fine with that."

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