Eighteen years after an Act outlawing them... why are the devil dogs still killing our children?



The haunting face of John-Paul Massey has stared out of our newspapers and television screens all this week. The four-year-old was killed by a pit bull terrier called Uno at his grandmother's home in Wavertree, Liverpool, on Sunday. The little boy didn't stand a chance.

Uno, a huge white brute with the distinctive square head, small ears and powerful jaws of a killer dog, threw John-Paul about like a rag doll, gripping him mercilessly as his grandmother tried in vain to prise open its mouth to release her grandson.

The pit bull was later shot in the front garden by police. As for John-Paul Massey, his mother, Angela, says simply: 'I can't believe this has happened to my baby boy.'

Haunting: John-Paul Massey was mauled to death by his uncle's pit bull terrier in Wavertree, Liverpool, on Sunday

Uno's owner was John-Paul's 21-year-old uncle, an Army squaddie named Christian, who left a handwritten note with flowers at the scene of the boy's death. It read: 'He was the best nephew in the world.'

That may be true - but such words can never bring back John-Paul. The child was yet another innocent victim in a terrifying glut of killings and maulings by dogs in this country.

In February, a three-month-old boy, Jayden Joseph Mack, was killed by the family pet, a Staffordshire bull terrier, at his grandmother's home in Ystrad Mynach, South Wales.

Uncle: 21-year-old Christian Foulkes owned the dog that killed little John-Paul

A month later, three-year-old Demi Franklyn was attacked by a neighbour's Japanese Akita fighting hound as she played outside her own front door in Shipley, Yorkshire.

The creature, called Tyson, suddenly turned on Demi, breaking her jaw and leaving the little girl with horrific head wounds. Doctors said her injuries were so bad she may never smile again.

But these aren't the only recent attacks. Ellie Lawrenson, aged five, of Liverpool, died after being bitten 72 times by a pit bull terrier, while one-year-old Archie-Lee Hirst, from Wakefield, and Cadey-Lee Deacon, aged five months, of Leicester, were each savaged to death by rottweilers.

So, 18 years after the introduction of the Dangerous Dogs' Act which was meant to end such atrocities, how have these bloodthirsty creatures become such a nightmarish part of modern Britain?

Today, there is a thriving market in devil dogs. It is fuelled by an underground revival of the sordid 'sport' of dog fighting, and the possession of a snarling so-called 'weapon' dog is too often seen as a vital accessory for young thugs and criminal gangs - more so even than owning a flick knife or a sawn-off gun.

Kit Malthouse, London's deputy mayor for policing, warned only recently: 'These dogs are no less dangerous than guns and knives, yet paradoxically they are harder to control.

'They often terrorise neighbourhoods, inflicting injury and sometimes killing children or adults. We need tough legislation to stop those who breed dogs for fighting and attack.'



This year, it's predicted that 800 potentially dangerous dogs will be seized by police in London alone. That will be little consolation to the millions who use public parks or walk the streets of any town or city, and experience the fear that comes from crossing the path of these lethal animals and their mindless owners.

While pit bulls were banned by the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act, in practice they have far from disappeared. And, in any case, Staffordshire bull terriers, bull mastiffs, Rottweilers and other equally intimidating breeds can be bought with ease, as I shall explain later.



Deadly: Staffordshire terriers are used for dog fighting and as 'weapon dogs'

Brutalised by their irresponsible young, and invariably male, owners, the dogs are put on treadmills and hung from tree branches by their teeth to bulk up their muscles and strengthen their bite.

Some will be used in robberies and muggings. In their 'training' for such roles, animals are often provoked until they snarl, bare their teeth and prepare to make a ferocious attack - at which point they are rewarded by their owners with a piece of raw meat.

Vicious behaviour is encouraged in 'street-fighting', an increasingly popular hobby among gangs, where friends or rivals meet up on street corners and set their dogs on one another to see which is the toughest.

Many of these dogs are used simply to indulge their owners' wish to upset law-abiding people. They will be turned on neighbours' cats - killing them in seconds for sport - or let loose in parks where they are encouraged to attack other dogs and their owners.

A recent crime survey found that a fear of dog-wielding hoodies outweighed that of graffiti or burglary. And local authorities are suddenly demanding tough action from central government.

Victim: Ellie Lawrenson was killed by a dog - coincidentally also owned by her young uncle - on New Year's Day 2007

Leading the fightback is the London borough of Wandsworth, which has become the first council to introduce compulsory dog micro-chipping on its council estates.

Those who don't register for the scheme are potentially in breach of their tenancy conditions and could lose their property.

In a further crackdown, the Conservative-run Wandsworth has vowed to evict any council tenant who fails to keep their dog under control. It is also liaising with other local authorities to lobby the Government to reintroduce a compulsory licence system for dog owners.

Unlike the old licence (which cost £10 from the Post Office and was abandoned in 1987), it would have very real 'teeth'. Ideally, Wandsworth would like the cost of the licence to be £500, and the minimum age for dog ownership to be 20.

'The problem is that just about anyone can own a dog,' council leader Edward Lister explained. 'That's got to change. Most of the problems we have today are caused by young people who keep these menacing dogs. The case for restoring the dog licence is overwhelming.'

Wandsworth's case is strengthened by the fact that the number of people hospitalised in the capital after 'weapon-dog' attacks has grown by 37 per cent. In response, Scotland Yard has created a new unit to tackle the epidemic of dogs used as the 'weapon of choice' by gangs, drug dealers and street thugs.

The popularity of fighting dogs has encouraged unscrupulous breeders to sell animals that are potential killers. Yesterday, it was a simple task to find illegal pit bulls for sale.

At the click of a computer mouse, I found a woman selling an American pit bull terrier in Sheffield for £120.



In Coventry, under the heading 'American pit bull terrier puppies for sale', a breeder advertises 'three beautiful reds, one boy and two girls', ready for collection and suitable for a family home.

But how can this happen? The 1991 Dangerous Dogs' Act banned the breeding, sale, exchange or ownership of the pit bull and all crossbreeds related to it.



Under Section One of the Act, a dog is classified as a 'pit bull-type' if it has the 'substantial' physical characteristics of an American pit bull terrier.

These include smooth hair, a wedge- shaped head, broad jawbones, strongly developed nostrils, laid back ears, a broad chest and deep ribcage.

Many breeders get round the letter of the law by claiming their dogs are other breeds, says Mark Callis of the RSPCA. 'The result of the Dogs Act was that unscrupulous people began to cross-breed their dogs.

'That means no one is able to tell if a dog has the genes of a pit bull, which is a mongrel anyway, simply by looking at it.

'When the police decide if a dog is a pit bull terrier type, they have to measure 32 parts of its body - which involves anaesthetising the animal first.



They look at the thickness of the cranium, the size of the neck and, crucially, the position of the ears: they want to see if they can be laid back flat on the top of the head to avoid being injured in a fight.



'Often, pit bulls are advertised as other breeds, such as Staffordshire bull terriers or bull mastiffs or English bull terriers. The seller will use the word 'gamey' (which means it will fight) to alert a buyer that it is really a pit bull.

An indication of the number of dangerous dogs being bred comes from data collected by the famous Battersea Dogs Home in London.

Whereas the mongrel mutt always made up the largest category in the past, in 2007 a total of 2,677 Staffies or their crosses were handed in. It means that a staggering one in three of the home's total intake of 8,000-odd dogs now come from this potentially aggressive breed.



Opponents: London deputy mayor Kit Malthouse (left) and Wandsworth Council leader Edward Lister (right) are leading the fight against illegal dogs



But it is the dog fighting that is perhaps the most terrifying aspect of this phenomenon. Police have reported how dogs have been deliberately set on each other in tower block lifts. Two animals are put in at the top floor and the ground floor button is pressed. They are left to fight it out. When the lift opens at the bottom, their owners see which one has won.

None of this surprises Ian Briggs, the head of the RSPCA's special operations unit. His team recently exposed the hidden world of dog fighting - 170 years after the sport was banned.

The RSPCA unit, the equivalent of the police Special Branch, raided houses, outbuildings and pubs where officers discovered fighting pits carpeted to allow the animals to grip while they fought.

They also found 'breaking' sticks designed to wrench open jaws if they lock on to an opponent and won't let go - along with veterinary kits and medical bags (containing staples to seal wounds and drips for giving blood and emergency medicines).

The RSPCA believes there are still 100 'hardcore' dogfighters, many of them career criminals, in London, Birmingham and other cities. Dead dogs, thought to have been used in fighting, were found dumped on canal banks in the West Midlands this summer. Their bodies were covered in injuries.

Ian Briggs said: 'Dogfights are incredibly well- organised over many months. The dogs even undergo a training regime, often with a course of steroids, so they reach the right fight weight.

'When they are ready to fight, they are pure muscle. During training, they are deliberately encouraged to be aggressive; to lash out at anything that moves.

'Just before a fight, they will be washed down and put on the scales. They are then taken to meet their opponent in the centre of the pit. It is called the 'scratch line' and that is where the expression 'coming up to scratch' originated.' Such dogs will fight to the death.

'There are set rules for the fight, and a referee. It can take two hours before the end. The animals go on until one is incapable of moving or has drawn its last breath,' says Mr Briggs.

What a gruesome spectacle. Yet it is one that continues to thrive in Britain - and helps to produce the very dogs responsible for the deaths of innocent children.