Fila question

I was reading up on an article related to the one Mrose posted about banned dogs in Australia. This quote came up:

I've heard of Filas being used to guard, hunt, and herd but I've never heard of them used as a fighting dog. Were they used as a fighting dog as well?

I asked on the other board but they said Renee would probably know, so I'm here asking Renee. :lol-sign:

I don't know, but I've never heard of Dogos being used to fight, either. If I remember my history of the breed right- they were bred to hunt boar.

IIRC, and I know I'm not Renee, but they were never used as fighting dogs per se. I think most people just assumed something so "aggressive" towards strangers MUST be a fighting dog.

That's what I thought. It's interesting because talking to people where the fila is banned it seems most the time they're banned for being a 'fighting breed'

Filas are pack dogs. They work together and are remarkable among the Mastiffs for being the LEAST dog aggressive of the Mastiff types. :wall:

Lol, well we all know the media and their reasoning...

Thanks for the clarification. I read that line and it didn't sound right at all to me.

I believe Australia based their dog bans on England's, which are remarkable for their utter ignorance.

Yeah I was discussing it with Mr Pooch (I think he's on your mastiff forum- he has Blake, Bess, and Aslan) and he's in England. He said they were banned there too for 'fighting heritage'. :/

If they're going to use "fighting heritage" as cause, then why haven't they banned the English bulldog and Boston Terrier?

I read somewhere that in some areas at one time "fighting dog" was used to describe both dogs who fought other dogs and dogs who were used to guard property and livestock.

Oh, found where I read it, not sure of it's accuracy: Chinese Shar-Pei: History: Origin: Page 2: chinese-sharpei.com

While fighting it is not in the Fila heritage, there are stories where Filas have been fought. They were mostly fought against Pitts. Some owners were bragging that a pit could not kill a Fila because of the dewlap. Some pit owners were bragging about their pits hanging on for dear life and doing severe damage to a Fila. Filas have also been fought against theTosa Inu.

The stories were very upsetting for me to read.

Filas were not banned in England for being a fighting breed. They were banned because of the dangerous dog act... There has been an incident that deemed the breed dangerous.

Since Australia claimed in a recent news article that it is not a country for "pit bulls", it leads me to believe that they are nothing more than a country for idiots. (but then again, the US is heading down that path as well..........)

Nearly any dog can be fought, regardless of the normal nature of the breed and unfortunately there are idiots that walk among us :madgo:

Interesting to read the actual text of the act and the 1997 amendment:

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 (c. 65)
Dangerous Dogs (Amendment) Act 1997 (c. 53)

A couple of years ago all the shelters in my area were being warned that there was a fighting ring looking for Malamute/Husky types. Does that mean they will suddenly start calling spitz breeds fighting dogs?

They also banned GSD's from being imported originally, worrie dthey would breed with dingoes and create a super sheep killer.

Miakoda, I frequently hear the head of the RSPCA making those comments, Hugh Wirth, although here I only seem to see him being reffered to as Hugley Wirthless. He's a joke.
I ended up emailing the president of the RSPCA and giving them a piece of my mind. They **** me off so much, they're so ready to rush in and help poor neglected puppies when they have a TV crew standing behind them but other than that its pretty much "sorry, nothing we can do"

Atleast we've got the EDBA

I have searched all over the internet trying to find a "legitimate" reason for Filas to be banned. As of yet, I have not found one.

Were filas even mentioned in either of those? I saw Tosas and APBT mentioned but no filas. Maybe I missed it.

in Japan where it is conducted by organized clubs, nearly every breed of bull or mastiff has been fought. the filas were put up against tosas in traditional matches, due to the peculiarities of japanese traditional fighting it is rare for anything but a tosa to do well. the old dogmen would not have matched a fila & a pit because they can't even come close to being in the same weight class. shockingly for those that have never seen them, the old fashioned organized events weren't the bloody spectacle protrayed by the PETAphiles. if a dog was totally overmatched (usually from matching a young dog to an experienced one) the owners/handlers would often throw in the towel in order to save the dog from injury as it could still go on to win them money as it gained experience. this was especially true of "professional" gamblers who might only own 1 or 2 dogs & not be able to prep & train them as well as breeders.
yes some of the early dogo studs were proven in the box. and even today leoneros pen test dogos that will be used to hunt lion (puma). some people consider this "fighting" or baiting.