Beautiful dog ordered to be killed just because of his breed

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Francis was found wandering in a park in the London area on July 18. His owner never showed up, the pup had no microchip and therefore was doomed to  die – no matter how adorable, how friendly or how much everyone’s heart broke knowing what was about to happen. Francis the pit bull His fate was sealed after he was visually examined by the Metropolitan Police Status Dogs Unit and determined to be a Pit bull. The staff at Battersea Dogs Home fell in love with Francis, but the law doesn’t allow a banned-breed dog to be cared for by a registered charity. Otherwise Francis would have been seized by the police, and the charity could be prosecuted for breaking the law.

There are four banned breeds in the United Kingdom, which include Pitbulls, Japanese Tosas, Fila Brazilieros and Dogo Argentinos.

“Until the law is changed, so that a dog is not judged by its breed but by what it has actually done, dogs like Francis and many more in the future will have to be put to sleep,” the organization posted on their Facebook to their followers.

On Monday, the charity highlighted the failure of the Dangerous Dog Act 1991 passed 25-years-ago after reports involving attacks by dogs on children. Originally the penalty included the mandatory killing of the dog, but in 1997, an Index of Exempted Dogs was established, as posing no danger to the public, with approximately 3,000 live dogs allowed to live in peace and safety.

And on Monday, a petition garnered more than 15,000 signatures in just two days addressed to Andrea Leadsom MP and the government begging to spare the life of Francis; although it stated the obvious the words fell onto deaf ears:

“Who has the right to take his life, all because of the way he looks? The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 needs serious review to make sure it is not killing dogs due to being a certain breed. This does not make them a dangerous dog. I want to see the reprieve of Francis and to be able to help other dogs in this horrendous situation,” wrote dog lover Kerrie Keen on the petition she prepared.

Tragically, in a statement the shelter posted on Thursday, they had no choice but to humanely end the life of sweet Francis.

“We received many inquiries from supporters and dog lovers about Francis, and we thank each and every one of them for their interest, advice and ideas. For the past 48 hours we have scrutinized every legal avenue, checked every piece of legislation, searched for new case law and have read everything that has been sent to us from people who have offered us their views. We have spoken in detail with the Police regarding Francis and also to the local Council where he was found.  The unequivocal outcome is there is no legal way to save Francis, as there is no legal loophole for the re-homing of a stray banned breed. Francis the pit bull 2

The clear facts are that Battersea cannot re-home him and we cannot keep him, as we cannot legally assume or take ownership. And who would take the hundreds of banned breeds that will follow him? Sadly therefore we have had to put Francis to sleep, as by law there was nothing more we were able to do.”

Please contact your MP to put pressure on the Government to change the Dangerous Dogs Act. Rest in peace Francis. We are so sorry that humans failed you. Sadly 91 other dogs were euthanized after identified by the police as a banned breed.  For more information on the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, read here.

(Photos by Battersea Dogs Home)


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16 COMMENTS

  1. This is absolutely appaulling … This is murder !! Straight out murder .. Should we kill all the blacks just cause there black ? All the Indians cause there Indians ! Come on ppl grow the hell up.theres murderers /child abusers / guns /why don’t you go after them. ..these are gods creatures and only God has the right to take them home .NOT YOU !! You worthless ppl .theres a place for all
    Of you ITS CALLED HELL .AND HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY IT

  2. DAMN THEM!!! Change the law! There is no excuse for a law like this to exist at all! They should have done a DNA test on Francis BEFORE they killed him, and I will guarantee you they would have found that he wasn’t a pit at all. Does he look like a pit to you, or a LABRADOR RETRIEVER MIX?????? That is NOT the face of a pit bull, and unless these IDIOTS can absolutely tell, they have no business ‘visually inspecting’, then killing anyone!

  3. The law clearly needs to be changed. You should not be able to kill an animal based solely on looks. You must do a temperament test and others before condemning it to death! Please reexamine the Dangerous Dog Act!

  4. This is so wrong. Wrong enough that I will never travel to that dog hating country. Nor will purchasr sny of their goods. #boycottlondon #racistdagainstdogs. May the good lord dump the worst weather on your pathetic country

  5. Again a “Pit Bull” is what ever these so called “experts” deem a “Pit Bull”. If this archaic law has been in effect for 25 years how is it that there are any of these dogs even residing in the good ole UK? Nobody can legally own one of these dogs and yet here is Francis? I hope the UK gets their heads out of their A$$’s long enough to put a stop to this atrocity!

  6. not all dogs are like the way you think.its the owners who made the dogs the bad way.dnt kill the dog cause his breed.judge bye who the owner is.

  7. When writing these stories all the information should be given. There is more to the story. He was found to be bleeding from the nose and rectum that morning. He was transported to Advanced Pet Care where tests were performed. Radiographs showed masses, renal issues, and low liver function. He was slowly dying in a painful way. Which if you have ever seen liver failure you would know. The shelter did not euthanize him, it was the decision of 2 vets. Here is the statement from one of the vets and test results are available to people if they really care. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1092299330858346&set=p.1092299330858346&type=3&theater

    • Edna Crouch the link you payed is about a dog in San Bernidino California. This article is about a dog in England.

    • Think you may have the wrong dog. The dog, Francis, in the above article was found in London UK. Your Facebook link concerns a dog in San Bernadino CA.

      The Dangerous Dog Act seriously needs to be updated. Hopefully we will see a petition to this end.
      RIP Francis.

  8. I am so sorry Francis that you were born to become a victim of a misguided and reprehensible law. You did nothing wrong and many will mourn your death for a long time to come. Rest in eternal peace sweet angel in heaven. (((((FRANCIS)))))

  9. This is a bullshit law and needs to be changed. He was a beautiful friendly dog that was killed for his looks. This is a cruel and inhumane law. Judge the dog not the breed. Regardless of what some idiots believe not all of these dogs are aggressive. I have seen Chihuahuas meaner than most pit bull type dogs. Rip! Francis! Once again humans killed just because they can. Ps I will never travel to this barbaric country that will kill an animal because of his looks. Heartbreaking!

  10. I’m so sorry to hear about Francis, he should never have been put to sleep. He sounded like a very friendly dog. I’m so disappointed with humans I’ve had enough of them and there abuse you can’t trust humans, I would never leave my pet with any of them. RIP Francis no man will ever get his hands on you again. I’d like to get my hands on them, if I could. I’m ashamed to say I’m a human.This is not good.

  11. This is so appalling. BSL is archaic and ineffective. Spending time and resources on ensuring all dogs are well cared for, trained humanely and making owners accountable for their dog’s behavior is a much more effective way of keeping dogs and people safe. “Sadly 91 other dogs were euthanized after identified by the police as a banned breed”- this is amazing-since when are police breed experts? . Even shelter workers and vets don’t get breed id right-here’s a study: http://www.vetmed.ufl.edu/2016/02/17/dna-studies-reveal-that-shelter-workers-often-mislabel-dogs-as-pit-bulls/

  12. There is no such breed as a pitbull. It is a general term for dogs with a square head, strong jaw. The breeds lumped under a pitbull include staffirdshire terriers, bull terriers, cane corso, presa canarios, dogo argentinos dogue de bordeaux

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