In defence of ‘devil dogs’

The proposed competence test for dog owners is designed to stop hoodies owning pit bulls, says Brendan O’Neill. But are the dogs, or their owners, really that dangerous?

Some people call them ‘dangerous dogs’. The tabloids prefer ‘devil dogs’. The police refer to them as ‘status dogs’. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals labels them ‘antisocial dogs’ (which is the most bizarre name of all. Since when were dogs expected to obey social etiquette?).

Whatever they’re called, these dogs, monsters, beasts are never out of the news. Whether it’s the pit bull terrier, the Japanese tosa, the dogo Argentina or the fila Brasileiro — all fearsome-looking creatures, and all subject to strict ownership rules under the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991 — barely a week goes by without one of these big-shouldered, wild-jawed canine crazies staring at us from the pages of the papers next to a report about how they are terrorising communities, mauling postmen, or being used as weapons by drug dealers gutted that they can no longer carry knives.