From October 1st it will be illegal to import, breed, sell or relocate an American XL bully in Ireland. The dogs that are in dog shelters will therefore have to be euthanized. The few that the owners can keep must be neutered and microchipped.
The decision was made after several dog attacks in Ireland. In Limerick, a woman died in an attack, and in southeast Ireland, a boy and an infant were injured in another attack, reports The Irish Times. The ban has been justified on the part of the government by safeguarding public safety.
Irish fighting dogs are rescued in Sweden
22 of the Irish dogs that are now at risk of being euthanized have come to Sweden or may be brought here. The association Dogs without homes will receive them and has asked for help in the form of people opening their homes to an American bully XL.
“The time for these dogs has started ticking and we need your help to help these dogs before the law comes into effect,” the association writes on its website.
Dog coach Fredrik Steen believes that it is heartwarming and nice that someone wants to take care of them – but there are risks.
– This requires enormous knowledge and responsibility for those who take the role of bringing the dogs here and sluicing them on. It is a responsibility that I think very few dog experts would dare to take on, says Fredrik Steen.
The dog coach: Individual breeds are not the problem
He points out that the problems are not about a single breed, but about unregulated breeding and that you don’t know what the background looks like for the Irish dogs that are now coming to Sweden.
– Individual races are not a problem, that is a lie. It is the unregulated breeding that is the problem. You can take an aggressive dog and pair it with another aggressive dog and there is no one to control it, says Fredrik Steen.
In order to be able to determine which dogs are suitable to be passed on to families, you need a great deal of knowledge, according to Steen. A knowledge he believes the police dog service possesses.
– What makes the discussion difficult is when this is turned to the fact that you don’t like dogs. It’s not about that. Those who have the competence to decide this in Sweden are the police, and they have other things to do, I would guess, says Steen.
Homeless dogs answer
Dogs without homes, who have taken in several of the Irish dogs, believe they can make sure they end up in a good home, safely.
“We have been rehoming dogs from Ireland since 2005, so this is something we do every month. We relocate all types of dogs as long as they meet our criteria for mental and physical well-being,” writes the association’s president Tove Eriksson in a comment to TV4 Nyheterna.
The association is positive that they are tackling the problem in Ireland and introducing a ban on the “non-serious breeding” of the breed. But they are also critical of how it all went, especially the short deadline.
“The minister issued the ban on 12/7 and the law comes into force on 1/10. This meant that nice, safe dogs who are currently in rescue centers had very little time to find a new suitable home”, writes Tove Eriksson.