One Metro reader says every era has its “devil dog”‘ (Picture: Getty)
In today’s MetroTalk a reader has responded to the comments of Assistant Chief Constable Dan Thorpe of South Yorkshire Police, who warned of the dangers of American XL bully dogs after a video was released of one chasing an officer during a raid.
He said the breed accounted for a quarter of all dogs seized by the force since January last year.
However, Metro reader Daniel, from Bristol says:
There is no such thing as a dangerous breed, only a dangerous dog. And behind each dangerous dog there lies an irresponsible owner.
According to recent research from the Royal Veterinary College in London, only 2.2 percent of dogs in the UK are aggressive (meaning 97.8 percent are not).
The most aggressive breed by far is the golden cocker spaniel. Bully breeds don’t even make the top ten.
An American bully has been specifically bred to be a companion dog. It has the lowest rates of aggression out of all the bully breeds and the lowest prey drive.
Every era has its ‘devil dog’. This has included dobermans, rottweilers, German shepherds and Staffordshire bull terriers (until they were voted Britain’s favourite breed in a 2021 poll).
Since then, the devil dog du jour has been the American Bully and, specifically, the XL variant. It is not the dogs that should be targeted but the owners.
Meanwhile, other issues our readers are responding to include:
THAMES WATER TURMOIL
MP’s have recently summoned Thames Water Chiefs to explain massive debts of £14bn (Picture: Getty)
Relating to the problems with Thames Water, which looks set to collapse with billions of debt. There are works it has started in streets around where I live on the outskirts of Lewisham, that are still there with no sign of completion any time soon! Two sets of works, within a few yards of each other, were started four years ago and are starting to look quite derelict. Abandoned even. I wonder if this is the case in other parts of the country?
Imogen, South East London
Thames Water is over £14billion in debt. Using debts to give bonuses to executives and shareholders is theft. The government should asset strip the asset strippers and claw back as much money as it can.
If this means that some executives become homeless, so be it. The government doesn’t seem too bothered about poorer people losing their homes due to current financial conditions.
Don’t worry, executives. You’ll keep your homes. The taxpayers will pay your debts and you can get compensation if you lose your jobs.
Jonathan, Romford
METRO TALK – HAVE YOUR SAY
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STOP THE BUY-TO-LET BULLYING
Fraser (MetroTalk, Fri) says it is ‘immoral’ for landlords to let tenants pay for the mortgage on a second property.
He is quite wrong to conflate his personal idea of morality with landlords’ private enterprise.
Buy-to-let landlords contribute much to the economy, by employing members of the building trade and in taxation.
Inflicting one’s own moral tendencies on others is puritanism of the worst kind. Not in a free society, thank you!
Tony, Sussex
Climate Change Whataboutery
‘The problem is that we don’t see what other countries are doing. China is the global leader in renewable energy deployments,’ says one reader (Picture: Getty Images)
I understand how Terry feels (MetroTalk, Fri) – what’s the point of spending vast sums on climate change measures if no one else is bothering?
But, I was happily surprised to see in the news last week that China is set to double its capacity and produce 1,200 gigawatts of energy through wind and solar power by 2025, reaching its 2030 goal five years ahead of time. Reasons to be (a little bit) optimistic?
Anita Chandler, London
Terry seems to think that the UK is alone in spending on climate change measures but nothing could be further from the truth.
The problem is that we don’t see what other countries are doing. China is the global leader in renewable energy deployments.
President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law last August, committing the US to spend $369billion on green tech and emission reductions. France has passed a law requiring large car parks to install solar canopies.
Canada is also punching above its weight with their own net-zero spending.
Even if this wasn’t the case, the benefits of achieving net zero are legion.
Better insulated homes mean spending less on energy, which will be cheaper anyway once hydrocarbons are removed from the mix.
A decarbonised transport system will mean cleaner air and cleaner air will, by extension, mean less burden on the NHS.
The same can be said for enjoying a better diet that involves fewer burgers and more veggies.
It’s only the vested interests of the fossil fuel industry that want you to believe that achieving net zero would be hellish and painful but it only takes a few minutes of research to see the benefits.
Thunder, Highgate
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After a police chief blasted a dog breed as being dangerous, a metro reader has their say