'New XL Bully' Cane Corso dogs explained as Jack Fincham is jailed after pet mauled a man
While the XL Bully has now been banned from the UK, there are still several other breeds of dog which are large and absolutely the sort of animal you wouldn't want to be angry at you.
The ban has been in place for just over a year now and requires owners of the deadly dogs to keep them on a lead and muzzled in public, while it's also illegal to sell, gift, exchange, breed or abandon them.
However, while the XL Bully is fading, there's a new 'status dog' according to reports in The Times and that's the Cane Corso - described as an 'XL Bully on steroids'.
'A killing machine'
Canine behaviour specialist Rob Alleyne called the Cane Corso a 'killing machine' and explained that since the XL Bully ban, they'd 'become much more popular now'.
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"I just think it’s history repeating itself," he said of the cycle of banning dangerous dogs and owners looking for a 'status dog' going and finding another one.
"We saw it happen with the Pitbull Terrier. When they banned the Pitbull Terrier, what did we get? We got a dog far more dangerous than the Pitbull Terrier.
"They just made a new one worse than the preceding one: the XL Bully. And then if we ban the Cane Corso, people will just go out and get something else."
Cane Corso owners facing jail time
Former Love Island star Jack Fincham was just jailed for six weeks after his Cane Corso named Elvis bit a man in 2022 and was found to be out of control last year.
He'd previously received a suspended sentence for an unrelated car matter and been cautioned for the incident where his dog bit a man, as well as ordered to keep the dog muzzled and on a lead.
A judge said that Fincham was 'not abiding by the conditions to be muzzled and kept on a lead' and decided to impose a jail sentence along with a fine.
While Elvis will not be put down, he must be muzzled, kept on a lead and Fincham cannot leave him unattended with anyone under the age of 16.
What exactly is the Cane Corso?
The Cane Corso is an Italian breed of the Mastiff which is descended from the Molossus, a war hound that was popular with the Roman army who used them as guard dogs.
Much like their ancestors, the Cane Corso is a popular breed to be used as a guard dog on account of them being big bad b*****ds.
Speaking of the Romans, 'cane' is the Latin word for dog and 'cohors' is their word for a guardian or protector, and the name Cane Corso sprung from that so the name of the breed roughly translates as 'guard dog'. They were also used to hunt large wild prey such as boar and could herd livestock too.
The numbers of Cane Corso dogs dropped significantly due to the World Wars, but in the 1970s there was a dedicated effort to bring the breed back into prominence.
Cane Corsos are large, muscular dogs with a stocky build and a large head, so you can understand why you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of one.
With the right training they can be very effective and loyal guard dogs, and are not known for being friendly towards strangers or other dogs.
Since they are large, powerful dogs that can be suspicious of strangers, a Cane Corso needs a lot of socialisation as a puppy to be used to other dogs and people.
Joe Harker