A woman who has an XL bully dog has insisted she'll 'fight to the end' before putting a muzzle on her pet.
The dog owner Daniella, who regularly posts content to her TikTok about her four-legged friend Bebe, has opened up to viewers online her thoughts on the recent news that the breed of dog will be banned.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced last month that the American XL bully dog will be banned by the end of the year, following a series of attacks across the UK.
In an announcement video posted on social media, Sunak said: "The American XL bully dog is a danger to our communities, particularly our children.
Advert
"I share the nation's horror at the recent videos we've all seen. Yesterday we saw another suspected XL Bully Dog attack, which has tragically led to a fatality."
He went on: "It's clear this is not about a handful of badly trained dogs. It's a pattern of behaviour and it cannot go on.
"While owners already have a responsibility to keep their dogs under control, I want to reassure people that we are urgently working on ways to stop these attacks and protect the public."
Sunak informed the British public he would 'ban the breed under the Dangerous Dogs Act' by the 'end of the year'.
Advert
"These dogs are dangerous," he concluded. "I want to reassure the public that we will take all necessary steps to keep people safe."
In a now-deleted video, Daniella opened up about her one-year-old XL bully and shared her opinions on muzzling the pooch.
As per The Sun, the woman revealed: "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.
Advert
"It's not going to happen."
She continued: ""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."
Advert
Talking some more about Bebe's temperament, Daniella claimed she is 'not reactive and not aggressive'.
The dog mum went on: "My dog likes to play with sticks, she likes to play with footballs.
"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."
Advert
And it seems muzzles aren't the only issue.
"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.
Daniella went on: "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."
The woman finished up declaring: "It's not happening. I'm not muzzling her. And she's not going to be on the lead 24/7."
According to the outlet, the caption of the now-deleted video read: "I understand it's better than us losing our dogs, but why should we all just roll over and let our dogs suffer?
"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?"
Daniella concluded: "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!"
Rhiannon Ingle