American Pit Bull Terrier in the UK.

Found this article on my computer,can't remember where or who it came from but I thought it was worth posting..

The truth about the American Pit Bull Terrier in the UK.

"Scuse me mate,is that a Pitbull?"

In the late 1980s there were several dog attacks on people around the country.Some of which were said to have been carried out by a breed known as the 'American Pit Bull Terrier' (APBT).
Newspaper coverage though was minimal as the press were still busy 'giving it' to the Rottweiller and the UKs emerging rave culture to notice.
In 1990 though following two particularly serious attacks by the breed all that changed and the headlines began to appear in earnest...............'Devil dogs,& Pure-bred killers' being two of the most popular.

Most of these reports were accompanied by quotes from so-called experts in the breed who helped feed the journalists the rubbish they needed to create these head-lines.
Headlines that formed the opinions of the general public.Yet these 'experts' had never even owned dogs of this breed.
If you want to know about the performance & reliability of a certain make/model of car,you go and ask someone who drives one and not the lad from the car-wash who cleans one now and again.

The 'American Pit Bull Terrier' had only been introduced to the UK in 1976 and few people were even aware of there existence.
This meant that for some years they were only available to the most responsible people who had done their research on the breed and were 'in the know'.

Back then ,as now any 'new breed' of dog being imported into the UK for the first time had to have strict Home Office approval before spending the usual six months in quarantine.
The 'APBT' or Gamedog as the breed is also known was already well established in America with pedigrees going back over a hundred years.
If the breed really was the 'evil time-bomb' that the tabloids would have us believe then the Home Office would never have allowed their arrival in the first place.
Nevertheless by the end of the 1980s events had begun to take a turn for the worse.

Some dogs of dubious breeding were being imported from a number of unscrupulous breeders in the States,quick to cash in on the growing demand for Gamedogs here in the UK.
'Hard-mouthed,fast-lane super dogs' as they claimed.
They charged thousands of Yankee dollars for these 'scatter-bred curs' and they had plenty of takers.

Not all the dogs from these breedings turned out to be dangerous by any means but a few certainly did and when they got into the wrong hands,the consequences were not good to say the least.
The one thing those 'sexy' newspaper reports did was to make the Pit Bull attractive to every 'Idiot Chav' in the country and there were plenty of 'puppy peddlars' only to willing to sell them one,usually with false pedigrees.

These fools were'nt fit to own the most docile of toy poodle,never mind a breed as formidable as the'APBT'.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing and some of these clowns thought that the way to test their newly acquired status symbol was to let it loose on the big 'German Shepherd' or 'Rottweiler' in the park.
This was nothing more than a cruel act of bullying towards these Rotts and GSDs.
They might well be twice as big as the average APBT but they are quite simply not equipped to deal with the 'unholy terror' that a Pit bull in 'fight-mode' would unleash on them.

The selectively bred-for traits of gameness,strength,mouth,aggression,stamina and determination to 'get the job done' found in the APBT are second to none,only a good Stafford comes anywhere near.
It would be like a young,fit Mike Tyson picking on a pub doorman,who no doubt would be a big,strong lad,but he could never be expected to cope with the levels of power,speed,talent and fitness that the former world champion had in abundance.

A guy I knew had a well-bred Pit bull called 'Billy' and Billy's best pal was the guys five year old daughter 'Bethany'.Woe-betide anyone who went near that little girl with the wrong intentions while that dog was around.Billy was fine with folk otherwise.

The original imports by Ed Reid and his 'Skipper' ROM dogs went on to become the most successful line of Gamedogs in the UK with several Champions and Grand Champions to their credit.
Dogs such as Champion Scotsmans Max,Champion Billy,Ch.Dread,Ch.Rex,Ch.Hagar,Ch.Yogi,Ch.Bash,Ch.Curstopper,Grand Champion Bill,Gr.Ch.Jacko & several others.
Only the Dogs from 'Limey Kennels' (The Spike/Nelis/Tug matings) came close.

After reading these 'notes',I don't expect anyone to develop an interest in 'American Gamedog' history.
I do however,hope that you come away with a better understanding and perhaps even a little appreciation for one of the most misunderstood of God's creatures,"The American Pit Bull Terrier".

 

When was dog fighting banned in the UK?

 

Dog fighting and other animal baiting sports were officially banned in the UK in 1835 but dog fighting in particular carried on for some years before being driven underground.The owning and breeding etc of the APBT in the UK was effectively banned in 1991 following the introduction of the DDA (Dangerous Dogs Act).

 

along with several other breeds

 

correct lee d altough i'm not even sure any of the other 3 breeds were even in the uk

 

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Banned Breeds List

Thus the full list of banned breeds under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 is as follows:

• Any dog known as a pitbull type (eg American Pitbulls, Blue Nose Pitbulls, Red Nose Pitbulls)
• Japanese Tosa
• Fila Brasileiro
• Dogo Argentino
• And any dog who in the opinion of the Secretary of State was bred for fighting, or has the appearance of a dog bred for fighting

 

I knew about the banned dogs, I was just wondering if dog fighting was banned at the time when Pits were first imported... Which I have learned it was

 

Looking for a apbt in uk Birmingham