NEWS and COMMENT: If you live in the UK, you may know that the American XL bully dog has been banned in the country because of attacks on people and its inherent aggressivity which by the way is denied by the founder of the breed.
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American XL bully owners have some options. They can seek a licence which will include some strict regulations about how they own their dog or they can take their XL bully dog to a veterinarian to have it euthanised and receive a £200 award for the cost of the procedure.
Some registered veterinarians are receiving threats over XL bully euthanasia by campaigners for the breed who disagree with the way the government has gone about banning this type of dog.
The British Veterinary Association is aware of the problem. They know that some veterinarians are receiving threatening messages and calls.
RELATED: Some XL bully owners are ignoring ban on rehoming
One practice has received more than 15 death threats after being targeted by campaigners. They regard the threats as “genuinely scary”. The veterinarian has remained anonymous in an interview with Channel 5 News.
Defra has warned that practices “will see a rise in requests for the euthanasia of dogs that conform to the description of an XL bully” because of the ban.
Veterinarians aren’t obliged to agree to euthanise an XL bully dog on the request of their owner. Indeed, it is highly unusual for a veterinarian to euthanise a healthy dog and some veterinarians will object to doing it.
The British Association is urging the public to stop vilifying their veterinarians.
The BVA vice president, Malcolm Morley, said: “We understand that this has been an exceptionally stressful and worrying time for the owners of XL bully-type dogs.”
He added that veterinarians were committed to providing advice and support to clients on the decision to euthanise the dog.
He condemned people who were threatening veterinarians. He said: “BVA urges all members of the public to remain kind and courteous to vet teams during this emotionally charged time and to carefully consider the impact of their words and actions. We also urge all concerned practices and individual that to take a zero-tolerance approach to abuse.”
