A teenager who pried the jaws of an XL bully open to save another dog during a vicious attack in South Lanarkshire says “owners are the problem”.
Christopher Milne rescued a Border Collie during the ordeal in East Kilbride on Sunday before the aggressive dog was shot dead by police.
The XL bully, named Kilo, was killed after attacking the 14-year-old Collie named Drift. The elderly dog managed to escape after Christopher intervened and prised open Kilo’s jaws.
The 17-year-old – who has an XL bully himself – has defended Kilo and branded the ban on the breed – which comes into force at midnight on Thursday – as “disgusting”.
STV NewsPolice said attempts were made to restrain the “dangerously out of control” XL bully before shooting him multiple times.
Three people were injured during the incident.
It’s understood Kilo had recently been brought to Scotland from England to evade the ban on XL bullies that had yet to come into force.
Christopher said: “If they’re not socialised, if they’re not trained, think of like keeping a person cooped up in a house, they have nothing to do for ten years straight.
“It’s the same with every animal – it’s not the dog, it’s the owners.
“If you keep a person locked up in a singular place, they’re obviously going to have aggression, and it’s the same with dogs as well.
“It’s just all getting pinned on the XL bullies, which is a shame. It’s because they get all the bad owners.
“The ban, it’s horrible, it’s actually disgusting. Honestly, you might as well ban every dog, might as well have a muzzle on every dog because, again, it’s not the dogs, it’s the owners.
“It’s dependant on how they’re trained and socialised. Most of them have been bred for dog fighting, it’s a shame.
“The dog had scars all over the side of its face, had cropped ears, it was a real shame. It was aggressive when I had it pinned down, but I’ve got an XL bully myself; I know how to handle them, I know how they’re trained.
“The dogs are lovely – they’re not aggressive at all, it’s the owners that need to train them properly.”
Police Scotland said an 18-year-old woman would be reported in connection with offences relating to the Dangerous Dog Act following the incident.
it comes just weeks after another bully-type dog was shot during an incident in Hamilton’s Tinto View.
Armed police were forced to taser and shoot the dog four times after it attacked two men.
A 48-year-old man was reported to the procurator fiscal over the incident, for alleged offences in breach of the Dangerous Dog Act.
New safeguards surrounding the ownership of XL bullies are set to come into force from Friday, February 23.
“The new regulations aim to protect public safety and are being introduced as a consequence of similar XL bully controls brought in by the UK Government, which created an unacceptable risk of dogs being moved to Scotland from England and Wales,” Siobhian Brown, Scotland’s minister for victims and community safety has said.
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