‘Identifying Jack just by his shoe was heartbreaking’: Mother of boy, 10, mauled to death by XL Bully will make a heartfelt plea to MPs today calling for tougher penalties after spate of tragic deaths

• Emma Whitfield launched a campaign to overhaul the Dangerous Dogs Act
• She wants stricter penalties and stronger rules to stop illegal breeding in the UK 

The mother of a boy who had to be identified by his shoe after being mauled to death by an XL bully will make a heartfelt plea to MPs today and call for tougher penalties on dangerous dog owners. 

Jack Lis, 10, died last November after suffering catastrophic injuries after being mauled by a seven stone dog while playing at a friend’s house in South Wales.

His mother Emma Whitfield has since launched a campaign for a new law that would overhaul the Dangerous Dogs Act. She wants to see stricter penalties and stronger rules to stop illegal and irresponsible breeding and selling.

Ms Whitfield, 32, today will urge MPs to back the proposed Jack Lis Law, which is named after her son. She told The Mirror she hopes the legislation will ‘change the future’ and ‘stop another Jack from happening’.

Her plea comes as Scotland Yard is working daily to tackle the growing problem of out-of-control dogs that has seen a skyrocketing number of American bullies seized over the last few years.

Jack Lis, 10, (pictured) died last November after suffering catastrophic injuries after being mauled by a seven stone dog at a friend’s house in South Wales

His mother Emma Whitfield (pictured in June 2022) will make a heartfelt plea to MPs today and call for tougher penalties on dangerous dog owners

Ms Whitfield is expected today to detail Jack’s death, including how it was ‘heartbreaking’ to identify him by being ‘shown his shoe’. Pictured is the dog that killed Jack Lis

Ms Whitfield is expected today to detail Jack’s death, including how it was ‘heartbreaking’ to identify him by being ‘shown his shoe’. 

She will recall how learning he did not survive the attack was ‘unimaginable’ and how, in the ‘eyes of the law’, the dog that mauled Jack was ‘only dangerous once it had killed him’.

READ MORE: Which dogs are banned in the UK? Illegal breeds and Dangerous Dogs Act explained

American Pitbull terriers are the most commonly culpable dogs involved in fatal attacks in the UK

The grieving mother will ask MPs to support her call in banning XL bullies and taking steps to ensure that ‘nobody else is ever put in the position of me and my family’.

‘There needed to be a ban of the breed. Get rid of every single one of them,’ she will tell politicians, the newspaper reported. 

‘This won’t bring my son back, but I realise it’s not as simple as banning certain dogs. There will always be another breed involved.’ 

Met Police reportedly deal with at least one dangerous dog each day and seized 479 out-of-control animals last year. The force seized 333 in 2021. 

Ten people were killed by dogs in the UK in 2022, with another five deaths already this year, including a grandma who was mauled to death by an out-of-control, banned breed over the weekend.

The horror savaging – the latest in a wave of fatal dog attacks across the country – happened while the woman in her 70s was lying on a sun lounger at home in Bedworth, Warwickshire, at 3.50pm on Friday.

The victim’s daughter, 49, desperately tried to fight off the animal as it pounced on her mother. 

She was bitten as she tried in vain to save her mother and was later taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries. 

England and Wales saw nearly 22,000 cases of out-of-control dogs causing injury last year.

Forty-four American bullies have been removed from the London streets this year, The Daily Mirror reported. The breed is understood to have been responsible for about 50 per cent of all dog-related deaths in the UK since 2021. 

Ten people were killed by dogs in the UK in 2022, with another five deaths already this year, including a grandma who was mauled to death by an out-of-control, banned breed over the weekend. The attack happened while the woman in her 70s was lying on a sun lounger at home in Bedworth, Warwickshire, (pictured) at 3.50pm on Friday 

The victim’s daughter, 49, desperately tried to fight off the animal as it pounced on her mother. Officers are pictured at the scene on Friday 

Deputy chief constable Robert Carden told the newspaper that police in ‘all regions’ are now focusing on ‘dangerous dogs and dog attacks’ and working with on-the-ground officers to ‘ensure that investigations are launched’.

The Dangerous Dog Act 1991 bans owning, breeding, selling, giving away, or abandoning four dog breeds, as well as banning any dog which is dangerously out of control.

This legislation makes four breeds of dog originally bred for fighting illegal in the UK: American Pitbull terriers, Japanese Tosas, Dogo Argentinos, and Fila Brazileiro.

Crossbreeds of those four are also prohibited, depending on a judgement of their physical characteristics and how well they match a ‘typical’ description. 

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