Bully Watch here! Responding to some points from the latest podcast.
Hello! Bully Watch here. We thought we'd respond to a few points raised in the latest podcast.
We actually welcome the scrutiny from the podcast; some of us work in policy, and scrutiny helps in writing good policy, which is what we ultimately want. We've also made it a principle to be transparent where we can. Some of the criticisms levelled against us is fair. Some of the attacks on Katie have been unfair. So hopefully this can help provide some additional insight for those who are curious.
43% of attacks are from large bully breeds
Katie rightly mentions that the UK media has been using our figures, and this has lead to misinterpretations. The 43% figure from our website has been circulated by the media without the necessary caveats. It represents 43% of incidents on social media platforms where individuals either self-reported the dog in question, or there was a picture allowing the dog to be visually identified.
We had to create our dataset because there is no available data on dog attacks by breed in the UK. Neither the NHS (Hospitals) nor Police Forces record such data. Our dataset was an attempt to determine whether there was indeed a problem with the breed or whether the media were disproportionately reporting attacks attributed to it.
We always knew that some dogs might be mistakenly categorized. However, as our sample size grew (to now over 800), we felt discrepancies would correct themselves over time.
We don’t find merit in the argument that these are simply other large dogs being mistaken as Bully XLs. The reason being that the only dogs you could mistake these for would be a collection of quite niche (mostly Mastiff type) dogs. (The exception may be the Cane Corso, which is slowly growing in popularity but is nowhere near the scale of the Bully XL.) The balance of probabilities suggests that these are most likely American Bully type dogs.
Killer Kimbo
The “Killer Kimbo” article has certainly been sensationalized. There is much more nuance to that piece than what has been portrayed by the media. A longstanding theory exists suggesting that this line may be associated with rage syndrome, believed to be passed down by a stud named Killer Kimbo. This theory has been somewhat of an open secret in the Bully breeding community for years.
Gustavo Castro mentioned in his interview with the Sun that Kimbo's offspring are only aggressive when they are on steroids because this was rumoured to have been the case with Nico, the dog that fatally attacked Mia Derouen. However, we believe this theory was eventually discredited. It’s noteworthy that Nico had sired a single litter, and every dog from that litter was euthanized due to aggression-related issues.
We've documented several incidents in the UK involving American Bullies exhibiting unexpected aggressive behaviour and turning on their owners. The piece was investigating whether rage syndrome may be genetically transmitted through Kimbo’s lineage.
Steroid use in American Bullies is indeed a real issue, primarily driven by the lucrative market for stud fees. Some owners administer steroids to their dogs, take numerous photographs, and then sell the sperm once the steroids have worn off, cashing in on the enhanced appearance of their dogs.
The History of American Bullies
We'd challenge the history of the American Bully that's given.
Dave Wilson may have set out to create a companion dog, but can the same be true of all the other breeders which followed in his footsteps?
When talking about the American Bully’s history, breeders consistently mention the integration of English Bulldogs to instil a more placid nature in the breed. However, after examining hundreds of pedigrees, we just can't find it. Every American Bully on paper traces back to American Staffordshire Terriers or American Pitbull Terriers. Due to paper hanging we have no clue what actually went into these dogs.
We know crossbreeding had to occur, as evidenced by the presence of Merle. We know they suddenly grew to be three times the size of an average Pitbull. This was either through aggressive inbreeding or through combining working line Mastiffs.
If you're interested we have a piece on our website that delves deeper into the history of the American Bully.
Our main argument is that due to the surge in the breed’s popularity, breeders prioritized aesthetics and size over health and temperament, which is now reflected in the dogs’ behaviour. Some UK breeders have noted that these dogs are being bred with high prey drives and problems handling arousal, both contributing to aggression. Many of these dogs are simply not healthy.
We witnessed how, within a few years, the emphasis on appearance by backyard breeders has significantly compromised the health of the French Bulldog, reducing its average lifespan to 4.5 years. It's not a stretch to suggest a similar scenario could be unfolding with the American Bully.
Dog on Dog Aggression
One issue that is never touched upon - is dog aggression verse human aggression. If you scrolled all the way to the bottom of the UKC Breed Standard for the American Bully, you'll see this endnote "some level of dog aggression is characteristic of this breed."
A lot of the attacks we're seeing in the UK from American Bullies are as a result of dog on dog incidents. Which circles back to the breeding of dogs with high prey drives and difficulty handling arousal. They start attacking another dog, owner steps in to protect, they keep going and won't stop until a number of people intervene. This is where the issue of gameness comes in which wasn't touched upon. This is what makes these dogs really quite dangerous.
All in all, this is a really interesting topic. One that you can really fall down the rabbit hole of. Hopefully the podcast inspires people to dig deeper into what's happening with American Bully breeding in the United States and elsewhere because it really is deserved of greater scrutiny.