A new breed of dangerous fighting dogs is becoming increasingly popular as they take over from the now banned XL Bully.
Bully kuttas, which can weigh up to 95kg, are shipped to the UK from abroad and are growing increasingly fashionable to owners seeking alternatives to XL Bullies.
The fighting dogs, dubbed the beast of the east, originate from South Asia and can grow as big as a small pony.
Mauling victims have called for the threatening breed, also known as Pakistani mastiffs, to be outlawed.
Donna Ormerod, 62, from Blackburn, was left needing 84 stitches and two surgeries after she was bitten on the leg by a bully kutta.
‘It locked onto my leg and I could feel it biting deeper and deeper to the bone. It just wouldn’t let go of me. If it had been a child or an older person, it would have killed them,’ she told The Mirror.
She has called for mandatory dog licences to prevent future attacks.
Shaun Hesmondhalgh, a dog training and behaviour modification expert, said: ‘This dog was historically created for an aggressive purpose.
‘It is highly questionable as to whether such a formidable type of dog could be classed as a family pet.’
Although it has been illegal to own an XL Bully without an exemption certificate since last February, bully kuttas are not prohibited.
It is unknown how many of the dogs, which have been used for hunting and guarding, are in the country.
The Kennel Club, the UK’s leading dog and breeding organisation, does not recognise the breed.
Despite its powerful build, the dogs can be freely bought online for upwards of £1,000.
Three puppies from Huddersfield are currently on sale, with two already rehomed, on popular website Pets4Homes.
The puppies, priced at £1,200 each, are advertised as ‘the purest and highest quality BK [bully kutta] pups in Europe’ and are claimed to ‘descend from proven/champions bloodlines’.
They are the third litter of the seller’s ‘Pakistani Import Bully Kuttas’.
Pets4Homes said it ‘adheres to all official guidelines on which animals might be advertised for rehoming, and this breed is legal to own in the UK. Should guidelines change, then we will change our listing policies.’
Another bully kutta from North Shields, sold on FreeAds for £700, weighs 73kg and is described as a ‘very large dog who is at first very aloof with strangers.
‘If you’re interested research the breed and make sure you’ve got experience with large reactive dogs as a bully kutta could be used for all the wrong reason,’ the advert listing adds.
One year on from the XL bully ban, nine fatal dog attacks have occurred in England and Wales – five from the banned breed.
Last month an XL Bully owner was jailed after his dog left a 12-year-old girl with life-changing injuries following a terrifying attack.
Justin Allison’s vicious dog Rocco, which was unmuzzled and off a lead, ‘latched on’ to the schoolgirl and sank its teeth into her arm.
The girl was rescued after her brave father wrestled the beast off of his daughter following the horrific mauling in Brynmawr, south Wales, Newport Crown Court heard.
Allison, 38, who admitted having a banned breed to the court, reportedly walked over but ‘didn’t come close’ and ‘didn’t do anything’.
The father was uninjured but the child’s arm was severely damaged – with the bone and tendons exposed – and she was treated at the Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran in south Wales.
Since the attack last October, her wounds are said to be ‘healing well,’ the court heard.
Meanwhile, the aggressive bully kutta which attacked Ms Ormerod was ordered to be destroyed last year, while its owner Ashiya Hussain was handed a six month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.
In 2017, a white bully kutta and a brown Ridgeback-Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross mauled a beloved couple’s beagle to death.
Owner Paul Baxter claimed his dogs were usually gentle.
‘My dogs have never acted like this before,’ he said. ‘They are good with other dogs, they are gentle with my three-year-old daughter.’