Mason, lives with Sean Andrews and his family in Enfield, London. He is on the exempted list, and has achieved his gold citizenship award in training and regularly attends shows. He’s also helped owner Sean through some difficult times.
“Shortly after Mason came home I lost my father quite suddenly and was at rock bottom,” Sean says. “I decided I needed something, or someone, to turn to and that was Mason.”
But the family have faced complications along the way too: “The financial implications (of owning an exempted dog) came about a year after getting him, when he injured his cruciate ligament. Because insurance companies wouldn’t insure him, I had to find different ways to raise the funds for his treatment.
“Luckily, for both of us, we’d made such an impression on the people and organisations we’d met that they offered to pay for his treatment and the vet didn’t charge us for medication.
“If it wasn’t for the kindness of these people I would hate to think about what would have happened money-wise.”
What Sean thinks about BSL:
“I believe the law should be changed.
“All dogs have teeth and yes, some have harder bites than others, however I’m sure that the so-called family-friendly breeds have bitten more people than banned breeds.
“Owners of these dog would like to insure their pet against illness and accident but, because of their breed or type, you can’t and just have to hope nothing happens because it could be the end of the dog’s life.”