David Smith
Sunday February 3, 2008
The Observer

The number of Staffordshire bull terriers is soaring amid reports that the breed is being used increasingly for street fighting and a practice known as 'lifting', in which dogs or a dog and a cat are sent down in a high-rise lift in the hope that they will savage each other while being filmed on a mobile phone.

London's most famous animal rescue centre, the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, has revealed that one in three of the dogs it handled last year was a Staffordshire bull terrier. The figure represents a 70 per cent increase on the number of pure bred Staffies and their crosses housed during 2005 - up from 1,564 to 2,677.

The RSPCA says that irresponsible behaviour involving dogs has grown so fast that it is now more of a problem than it was before the introduction of the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act. 'It appears to be the latest hoodie accessory,' said RSPCA chief inspector Jan Eachus. 'Guns are illegal, knives are illegal, but to walk a dog on the street is not against the law.'

The anti-social behaviour includes damage to trees. Keen to build their pets' muscle and jaw strength, owners encourage them to strip off bark or to hang suspended from branches.
Staffies are also being used in muggings. Of 18 reported instances in which a description of the dog used was given, 10 were of Staffordshire bull terriers.

this sickens me...

shut down the dangerous dogs act, open up the dangerous owners act.

:at wits' end: yea something need to be done about these people that for sure!!!