Hi,
You may have seen breeders webites for "Irish" Staffords, but they are NOT a breed. A majority of them also DO NOT stem from the good old Staffie. When the DDA came into effect here in the UK any dog deemed to be of "pitbull type" falls under this act and therefor runs the risk of being siezed and PTS, this includes the American Staffordshire Terrier. The way around this was to call pitbulls, pitbull crosses, AmStaffs..etc.. Irish Staffs, simply because it sounds better than saying i have a pitbull cross. As i have alrady said there are Staffords in Ireland that are nothing more than Staffordshire Bull Terriers andd thats exactly what they are called. There seems to be a new trend with people either wanting or selling Irish Staffs, that quite honestly i dont agree with at all. These people have no thought for the breeds that they could be harming in the future, or the dangers that they could face just by owning a dog of this type. I dont agree with the ban but the fact is it is the law, and as i have said you run the risk of having these dogs siezed. The biggest problem which most people who own or want one of these dogs dont seem to see, is the fact that these dogs DO fall undr the distinction of "pitbull type" and the fact that they are carrying the Name Staffordshire Bull Terrier could lead to serious problems for the true Stafford. With the government being what they are and thinking the way they do of Bull Breeds, it is imperitive that this STOPS, so that people do not confuse a Pitbull cross going under the pseudonym of Irish Stafford for a true Staffordshire Bull Terrier. This will cause serious problems and if the government feel that they are being made to look like fools by people breding pitbulls and calling them something else they will try to enforce a ban of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier aswell. The Staffordshire Bull Terrier is getting a name around Europe for being no different to a Pitbull and is already banned in certain countries, if people continue to breed dogs that are NOT Staffordshire Bull Terriers and still giving them the name of the Stafford they will get banned here too :evil: There is NO traditional Irish Stafford !! The sooner people wake up and actually take the time to inform themselvs on these issues the better !! I will say it again, there is ONE Staffordshire Bull Terrier and that is the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, the Staffords name is being used in vain and it will lead to a ban !! If people are going to have the balls to own a pitbull in a country that they are banned and take the risk of their dog being PTS, then they should also have the balls to own up to what breed they actually have, instead of hiding it under a different breed and putting that breed at risk too. The pitbull is banned for a reason, because too many idiots got their hands on them, now the same idiots still own them an they are calling them something else (Irish Staff) They dont care that they are putting another breed at risk because all they will do is start to call their dogs something else should the Stafford get banned too. We have seen the effect of BSL in other countrie especially America, if these people continue to fool people and make them believe there is a breed called the Irish Staff, it will lead to the same sort of problems here. Please dont take this the wrong way but if anyone is going to try and preach that the Irish Staff is in fact a breed then go and do some research first, and educate yourselves. Post a picture of what you consider to be an Irish Stafford, and a majority of people who know their Bull Breeds will tell you that it is infact a Pit cross !! The Staffordshire Bull Terrier is a recognised breed that is registered with the KC and the AKC, the Irish Staff can only be registered with tin pot organisations that will register any breed of dog who openly admit to registering cross breeds, and want nothing more than your money, should any of these organisations close they will simply open up again under a diffeent name.
Sorry for the rant, but this is something that really gets my back up, we have bull breed owners that will say they will fight BSL and they dont even know what are breeds and what are not. I dont think the Pitbull should be banned but the fact is, it is, and all that is going to happen if this continues is more breeds will be added to the list. How can anyone say that they love Bull Breeds and then willingly endanger another Bull breed ?