The American bully is a relatively new breed of dog, originating in United States of America and has in recent years increased in popularity in Sweden. It is an extension of the American Pitbull terrier, and is often described by breeders and owners as a gentle and friendly companion dog. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the breed and its description by reviewing legal cases and advertisements. I also reviewed information from the Swedish Board of Agriculture regarding registrations of the breed to examine how common it is in Sweden. The American Bully breed has increased with around 1000 dogs per year, and in 2023 there were 5538 dogs registered in as dogs of American Bully breed. Dogs of American Bully breed change owners over eight times more often than dogs in general in Sweden, making the breed overrepresented when it comes to ownership changes. The breed is the second most common dog breed to change ownership in the dog registry, with only mixed breed having more ownership changes. Changed circumstances in the family was the most commonly reason given in advertisements for rehoming of an American Bully dog. Breeders of American Bully describe their dogs with regard of their appearance and bloodlines instead of mentality and behaviour, and market the breed as an excellent family dog. The results of this study show that dogs of American Bully breed have caused injuries to both adults and children by attacking and biting them seemingly unprovoked. My conclusion of the American Bully breed is that it is a powerful and muscular breed of dog that is wrongly marketed as a lazy companion dog. More studies are needed with regard to the breeds health and behaviour. A breeding program from the American Bully clubs could be a possible way to correct the current problems regarding health and aggressive behaviour in the breed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-130965 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Ivarsson, Hanna |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för biologi och miljö (BOM) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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