A woman who was bitten 25 times in an attack by an American Bully dog insists the breed is not dangerous. The six-month-old dog, Chase, was put to sleep after mauling Stephanie Jones, but she still lets her three young children live with one of the breed.
Stephanie, 32, was rushed to hospital after the attack and she caught a skin infection while she was there. She was left with chunks missing from her arm.
Despite all of that, she says it's not fair to lump all Bullies into together and insists every dog is different. There have been calls for Bullies, which are not recognised as an official breed by the Kennel Club, to be banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
Stephanie, who lives near Swansea in South Wales, says that she should have been more alert to the red flags when she bought Chase, reports the Mirror.
She was put in touch with a breeder after putting out a request on Snapchat. She went to collect the 10-week-old puppy in April last year.
However, she was refused entry into his home, meaning she could not see its living standard or meet its parents. Chase cost Stephanie £3,000.
She told the Mirror: “He literally came out to me by the car, passed the puppy through the car window and promised to send all the paperwork in the post and I never received anything. I’ve learned my lesson.”
Stephanie later spoke to people who knew the breeder and was told he is unlicensed and there were “crates upon crates in the house of just dogs locked away, used for breeding”. After taking Chase home, Stephanie had noticed a large scar on his ear, which the breeder told her must have been done by the dog’s mother.
Later the first night, the puppy started to have a seizure-like fit and she rushed him to an emergency vet.
“I video recorded this seizure-like thing that he was having, sent it to the breeder and he asked did I want to go swap the puppy for another puppy?” explained Stephanie. “Obviously, I told him no.”
She had arranged to pay for Chase through a payment plan and he was initially supposed to cost £4,000. But the breeder agreed to knock this down to £3,000 due to the health concerns she raised.
Stephanie began to hear more rumours about the breeder, including that he was breeding dogs from the same litters and questioned him about the outstanding paperwork and proof of his licence to breed. “He sent me threatening voice calls and voicemails saying if I ever went to anyone about him that he knows where I live,” she said.
Later in the year Chase suddenly went for the family’s Caviler King Charles Spaniel, Lola, and the two dogs were kept apart from then. Then in August he went for Stephanie’s other Bully, Cookie, who was around 18 months at the time, in front of her children, who are aged four, five and seven.
Stephanie stepped in and grabbed his collar. “He went mad, he’s bitten me 25 times on my arms,” she said. “He put me in hospital and I had both my arms flushed out then I caught cellulitis in hospital as well.”
But Stephanie said Cookie had only been interested in protecting the children during the attack and got between them and the aggressive dog. She said: “I genuinely think that when you have these dogs that aren’t wired right, it is down to breeding and how people bring them up.
“My thing is, I brought both dogs up the same way and if the whole breed is a danger surely my other one would have turned as well, but she didn’t.”
Stephanie said people are “shocked” that she kept Cookie after the attack, but insists: “You can’t tar them all with the same brush. She’s literally my best friend. If I thought anything negative about this dog I wouldn’t have her round my children.
“If it’s anyone who should be against Bullies, it should be me after what he’s done to me. They are not all the same, 100%.”
In contrast, Cookie came from a “beautiful house” and Stephanie was invited inside and given the paperwork there and then. The dog had also been microchipped and had all its vaccines.
Referring to when she bought Chase, she said: “It’s just ridiculous when I look back. I was very stupid. I should have thought more into it. I thought it’s a lovely puppy and took it home.”
Bullies were originally bred in the US before becoming increasingly popular across the Atlantic in recent years. Pitbull Terriers themselves, as well as, confusingly, 'Pitbull-types', are banned in Britain under the act.
