DEATHS from canine attacks have increased since the start of the pandemic, with women, children and the elderly being the main victims.
Fabulous investigates whether owners buying animals irresponsibly during lockdown are to blame.
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When Deborah Brady received a panicked call from her mother to tell her that her eldest son Darryl, then 11, had been bitten by a dog, she was worried, but assumed he’d been “nipped on the arm or leg by a normal breed”.
The mum of three rushed home from her job in retail – and will never forget the sight that met her.
“Darryl’s face was ripped open,” says Deborah, 38.
“My mum attempted to stem the bleeding with a pillowcase. I tried to stay calm for Darryl’s sake. He was losing consciousness because he was in agony.”
Darryl, from Lohunda Downs, Dublin, had been playing football in fields near his home in December 2020 when he was approached by a large dog.
He went to pet it, but it started growling and then viciously attacked him.
Eventually the dog stopped and Darryl managed to make his way home.
Deborah drove him to nearby Connolly Hospital, where he was given antibiotics before being rushed by ambulance to Temple Street Children’s Hospital.
There he underwent four hours of reconstructive surgery involving 150 stitches in his face, which has left him with huge scars.
But Darryl, now 13, is relatively lucky.
In the past two years, there have been 13 fatal dog attacks in the UK alone.
By comparison, in the previous six years there were just 22.*
Meanwhile, the Met Police reported 2,140 recorded dog attacks in 2020-21 – a 14% rise on the previous year.
After Darryl’s attack, Deborah and husband Robbie, 37, a security guard – who also share sons Jamie, nine, and Callum, three – campaigned to have signs placed in the fields near their home reminding owners of the law regarding dangerous dogs.
Initially, it was reported that the dog that attacked Darryl was a breed called an American bully XL – wide, muscular dogs that can weigh as much as 150lb – but DNA tests later showed it was a Staffordshire terrier pitbull cross.
The animal was put down after the attack and legal proceedings are ongoing.
In Ireland, there are strict laws controlling restricted breeds including American pitbull terriers, bull mastiffs, dobermans, rottweilers, alsatians and Rhodesian ridgebacks.
These breeds and their cross-breeds must be muzzled in public, be on leads no longer than 2m and be handled by “a competent person over 16”.
Owners who break the rules face a £2,000 fine.
In the UK, the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 covers four breeds and their cross-breeds: it’s illegal to own, breed, sell or exchange pitbull terriers, Japanese tosas, dogo argentinos and fila brasileiros.
[Jack’s death] has been the consequence of someone wanting a status symbol.
Emma Whitfield
“But owners can get an exemption if they can prove the dog is not a danger, is owned by “a fit and proper person”, is neutered and is microchipped.
Critics argue the law needs to be updated to include more breeds, especially powerful American bulldogs and bully XLs.
While no single breed is responsible for the rise of attacks in recent years, bully XLs have been suspected of being involved in six of the 13 fatal incidents since 2020, and petitions have been launched calling for the breed to be added to the Dangerous Dogs Act.
But some experts say dogs are not the problem – the owners are at fault and dogs should not be penalised for bad ownership.
Sam Gaines, head of companion animals at the RSPCA, says: “Research tells us breed is not a reliable predictor of aggressive behaviour.
“It’s more about how a dog has been managed, whether they’ve had their welfare needs provided for and the presence of individuals able to intervene, which is particularly important with children around.”
The RSPCA says impulse buys during lockdown and animals from overseas puppy farms that have been bred and treated irresponsibly are a factor.
On April 2, 2021, two American bulldogs killed 85-year-old Lucille Downer from Rowley Regis, West Midlands, after escaping from her neighbour’s garden through a hole in the fence.
She died from a bite to the neck. Both dogs were destroyed.
Then on November 8, 10-year-old Jack Lis from Caerphilly was mauled to death by an American or XL bully dog called Beast.
Jack suffered unsurvivable injuries to the head and neck.
The animal was shot and killed by armed police on site.
I close my eyes and I see the animal and its teeth. I hear the barking. I have severe panic attacks and horrifying flashbacks. I would have given my life trying to protect him, but I couldn’t.
Emma Whitfield
In June this year, Beast’s owners were sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court.
Brandon Hayden, 19, from Penyrheol, Caerphilly, was jailed for four-and-a-half years after admitting owning or being in charge of a dangerously out of control dog.
Amy Salter, 29, was jailed for three years for the same offence.
The court heard the dog was a “status dog” and saw CCTV footage of it lunging at passersby as Hayden struggled to control it.
Footage also showed Hayden kicking and hitting the dog after it mauled a neighbour’s Jack russell, and Salter herself being bitten.
The court also heard it injured two members of the public days before Jack’s death.
Jack’s mum, Emma Whitfield, criticised the sentences and unsuccessfully petitioned to have them increased.
In a statement she called for changes in the law to protect against future attacks.
She said: “[Jack’s death] has been the consequence of someone wanting a status symbol.
“This animal was not a family pet and there was absolutely no intent on anyone calming it from the moment it was born.
“More needs to be done to prevent these types of owners and to prevent this situation from happening again.
“No mum should ever have the last images of their child as being dragged from a house,” she wrote.
Research tells us breed is not a reliable predictor of aggressive behaviour. It’s more about how a dog has been managed.
Sam Gaines, RSPCA
“I close my eyes and I see the animal and its teeth. I hear the barking. I have severe panic attacks and horrifying flashbacks. I would have given my life trying to protect him, but I couldn’t.
“We should still have Jack here, but I’m trapped in what used to be our family home. Now it’s broken and will never be the same again.”
More fatalities followed Jack’s death.
On December 22, Adam Watts, 55, died after being attacked by a “large bulldog-type dog” suspected of being a bully XL at the kennels he ran near Dundee, where he rescued dogs confiscated by the authorities.
The dog that attacked him was later destroyed.
In January, John William Jones, 68, died after being attacked by three British-bulldog-type dogs, which police confirmed were not outlawed breeds, in Lampeter.
A woman was arrested, but the case was closed with no further action taken.
In March, three-month-old Kyra Leanne King died at a beauty spot near Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, after being attacked by a suspected out-of-control husky.
A 40-year-old woman and a 54-year-old man were arrested and later released under investigation.
Lincolnshire Police are seeking a destruction order against the dog.
Two weeks later, Bella-Rae Birch, 17 months, died at her home in St Helens after being attacked by a bully XL her parents had owned for just a week.
The dog was destroyed and police are investigating.
More needs to be done to prevent these types of owners and to prevent this situation from happening again. No mum should ever have the last images of their child as being dragged from a house.
Emma Whitfield
Later that same month, Lawson Bond, two, died after being attacked in Egdon, Worcestershire.
Three rottweilers were destroyed, four arrests were made and the case is ongoing.
On May 1, Daniel Twigg, three, was killed after a dog attack in Rochdale.
A cane corso was destroyed, 10 dogs were seized and police arrested a 48-year-old man under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
He was bailed and the investigation continues.
Then on May 23, Keven Jones, 62, of Wrexham, died after being bitten by his son’s bully XL, Cookie, and going into cardiac arrest.
The dog was put down.
In the most recent case, on July 15, mum Joanne Robinson, 43, was mauled to death in her home by a bully XL. Her boyfriend Jamie Stead was also attacked.
It’s believed the dog was one of two Joanne had owned since puppies and neither had previously been aggressive. Both were destroyed.
There are growing calls for law reform, led by Caerphilly MP Wayne David – Emma Whitfield’s MP.
This month he called the Dangerous Dogs Act “woefully inadequate and inappropriate”.
“There are two fundamental problems with the approach to listing dogs,” he said.
Outlawing certain breeds gives the false impression only listed dogs are potentially dangerous. The reality is most dogs can be dangerous if they are not trained properly.
Wayne David, MP Caerphilly
“Firstly, because there is so much cross-breeding, it’s virtually impossible to maintain any legislation that contains an up-to-date list.
“Secondly, outlawing certain breeds gives the false impression only listed dogs are potentially dangerous. The reality is most dogs can be dangerous if they are not trained properly.”
He is calling for preventative measures such as the reintroduction of dog licences to raise funds for initiatives like training, assessment of potential owners and better control of buying and selling of dogs.
Cardiff University conducted a study in 2011 that found that sites such as Facebook and Gumtree were a major source of “status dogs”.
The sale of dogs is banned on Facebook, but a 2020 BBC investigation found dealers were using closed groups to sell puppies when demand increased during lockdown.
The RSPCA calls these sellers “extremely irresponsible”.
A spokesperson said: “There are lots of unscrupulous breeders and sellers out there who exploit social media and classified websites in order to sell puppies without arousing suspicion.”
The RSPCA, The Dogs Trust, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, Blue Cross, the British Veterinary Association and The Kennel Club are together calling for law reform, the introduction of breed-neutral legislation, and interventions to ensure “high-risk behaviour of people towards dogs is avoided”.
It’s clear the horror of dog attacks lasts far longer than the wounds, as Deborah explains.
“Slowly but surely, Darryl is overcoming his trauma, but he’s still wary around dogs. He used to cross the road to avoid them, but now he can walk past them, though the bigger ones still make him anxious. It’s made me more protective of my children.
“It’s not just physical scars – it’s a traumatic experience that stays with you forever.”
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