BSL'ing across Europe

Just came back from 10 days driving across Europe. I went from the UK to Portugal, crossing 3 countries which have BSL against staffies and staffy-types (varying from outright ban to lead and muzzle in public at all times). My dog is a BIG rescue Staffy X - 26kg - feel free to speculate what breed its parents might be as I have no idea. In his passport he's categorised as "Staff X".
OUT:
France arriving through ferry - pet passport checked by both UK and French agents, nobody checked the dog itself or bothered me about his breed even though by law he shouldn't be allowed in France.
Spain - didn't come across any police
Portugal - police came to greet and pet the dog and commented on how pretty and strong he was. Several people in the street said I had a pitbull and that he looked great. In the beach my dog played with a 6-month old bitch who looked staffy-like and I asked her owenr what breed she was - "they sold her to me as a pitbull" - but I can tell you she wasn't a pitbull, or at least not an APBT! Pitbull and banned breeds seem to be like unicorns in Portugal - everybody knows what they are but nobody has ever seen one! Another friend of mine said her family used to own a pitbull, but she also has a "50kg labrador who isn't fat, just big" so I'm not sure her old dog was a pitbull either.

IN:
Spain - crossed paths with some police, nobody bothered me
France boarding ferry - papers checked for the right vaccinations and treatments (rabies and tapeworm) but no mention of breed at any point.

Pit bulls are not banned in Spain but both staffs and pits must wear a muzzle and on the lead. Most people don't take any notice of the law.

I think it's more in the UK where prejudice against staffies and their crosses are more widespread.

Mani is a gorgeous boy

Sounds like you had a great time .. and glad you didnt have any headaches with your lovely boy

TBH, I hate the term "pitbull" ... it means absolutly nothing to me, its just a lazy term thrown around, that refer's to a dog that is a "bully type" ... you'll never see me useing it in any of my posts, and should NEVER be confused with an APBT

Do you have any pics from ya hol ? sounds great

I hate the term pitbull too, as it immediately casts people's minds back to the breed's origins. It also sounds 'tough' which is probably what attracts a lot of unscrupulous owners. Mani was photographed a lot while on hols, but while I wait for the pics here's a preview playing tug of war with my brother-in-law in the beach. 18 degrees in winter!

... he is a big lad ... great pic

love to do a road trip with our 2 but always concerned about the problems we "might" have and Mani looks absolutely fantastic and a picture of health

Wow he is a gorgeous lad, I hate the term pitbull too. I think a lot of people make assumptions from a name, which of course is wrong. Maybe we should rename them??

Glad to hear your holiday went well and you didn't have too many hold ups.

Thanks for the compliments. He was nearly 30kg when we got him and described by his owner as 'lazy couch potato'. Now he's 26kg, with a definite waist and as you can see by the picture, very firm buttocks! I'm also very proud he stayed in the car during the ferry ride for 2 hours and didn't destroy anything or pee - in fact he was asleep when we came back both times.

Mani wrote:Thanks for the compliments. He was nearly 30kg when we got him and described by his owner as 'lazy couch potato'. Now he's 26kg, with a definite waist and as you can see by the picture, very firm buttocks! I'm also very proud he stayed in the car during the ferry ride for 2 hours and didn't destroy anything or pee - in fact he was asleep when we came back both times.

What a very good boy he is, I'm sure you are very proud of him as anyone would be

Sounds like you had a great time. great photo!

Does BSL in France only prohibit crossbreeds? I know some SBT breeders in France, do their dogs have to be muzzled in public and papered to be allowed?

Love the picture, and great to know that you didn't encounter any problems with Mani's breed

looks lovely! Hes a beautiful dog

heya mani
planing on BSL'ing europe myself - any chance to bug you a little bit with some specific questions? if so please please drop an email to me at: - thanks - really hope to hear from you, you can really help out A LOT !

emails are not allow on the forum you can ask question on the forum

sorry about that
anyway to contact someone in private via the board ? just that i have personal questions which wouldn't interest the rest .. but if there's no such thing then i'll post a new topic about it..

thanks again

make a topic in the future someone may find it useful

cool, also just read all the forum rules, should have done that before.. :p

well written topic and i agreed with everything.. he is a gorgeous lad

nishma wrote:cool, also just read all the forum rules, should have done that before.. :p

No such thing as boring questions , if people aren't interested then they won't read ( you will never find me in the middle of a thread about football )