I’ve got an XL Bully but I refuse to muzzle her – she’ll be off the lead most of the time too, she’s not aggressive
A WOMAN who has an XL Bully has insisted she’ll “fight to the end” before putting a muzzle on her dog.
Following a spate of horrific attacks, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has vowed to outlaw the XL Bully – a cross between an American Pit Bull and US Staffy – by the end of the year, under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
People who already have an XL Bully are likely to have to muzzle them when they’re in public places.
The Prime Minister said the animal was a “danger to our communities” but his comments have sparked fierce backlash from lovers of the breed, including Daniella.
She’s dog mum to one-year-old Bebe, and insisted she’ll put up a fight before she muzzles her dog.
“I ain’t muzzling my dog, and my dog’s not going to be on a lead 24/7. I don’t care. It’s not happening. I’m not doing it,” she said in a video on her TikTok page.
“It’s not going to happen.
“Firstly, there’s no ban set in place yet anyway. And I don’t read into things in the new and the media and just follow what people tell me I have to do.
“Never have, never will.
“Didn’t do it with Covid and nothing happened, and I won’t be doing it now.”
Daniella continued to say she doesn’t understand why she should have to muzzle her dog, who is “not reactive and not aggressive”.
“My dog likes to play with sticks, she likes to play with footballs,” she said.
“She sees the same two dogs every morning and they play together – biting and roughing around, that’s how they play.
“She won’t be able to do that anymore. Why? My dog’s not aggressive. She doesn’t need a muzzle on her.”
And as for putting her on the lead all the time, Daniella won’t be doing that either.
“Mine’s on a lead when she needs to be, and when we get to the park – and I don’t mean like a kids’ playground area, I’m talking like country park, like fields, huge open space park, my dog’s off the lead,” she said.
“That’s it.
“If you don’t like dogs, you’re scared of dogs and you’re coming towards me, I’ll grab my dog respectfully and hold her.
“If there’s a massive group of kids or we’re going to go past a play area, I’ll grab the dog and put her on a lead.
“Unless we’ve had an interaction and you’ve told me it’s ok for my dog to be around you.”
Concluding, she said: “It’s not happening. I’m not muzzling her. And she’s not going to be on the lead 24/7.”
“I understand it’s better than us losing our dogs, but why should we all just roll over and let our dogs suffer?” she added in the video caption.
“How will she defend herself if she needs to? She can’t play with plastic bottles anymore? She can’t play with footballs?
“Kids won’t want to play with her because she’ll look scary?
“I’m sorry but no, and for everyone saying well then you’ll lose her.. i promise you now i wont go down without a fight!”
Daniella then clarified a few points in another video, as she said that she will muzzle train her dog if it comes to either that or the dog being taken away from her.
But she’s willing to fight so she doesn’t have to make that decision.
In another video, Daniella showed herself walking her dog “unmuzzled, unaggressive and unbothered”.
However, people were quick to comment on the clip, with one writing: “Guess what the owners of the bully dogs who killed people also said they weren’t aggressive before they killed.”
“You’re gonna ruin it for other people,” another argued.
“Your ignorance is astounding,” a third wrote.
“ALL dogs have the potential to strike.
“You don’t have the strength to intervene should it happen.”
“Good direction to go in if you want to lose your dog,” someone else commented.
As well as fighting her fight, Daniella is also doing her best to help other XL Bully owners, and has rehomed three of the dogs in recent weeks.
“I decided to start helping to home bullys since there are so many in need especially with everything going on!” she wrote.
“And in four days 3 have found their forever homes!”
In the comments on that video, the majority of people praised her for her work, although others insisted she needed to take the XL Bully ban seriously.