Killer Dog Sparks Interest in Rare Breed

Feb. 7 -- Mac Harris hoped to increase the popularity of presa Canario dogs, a breed he has bred and loved since 1993. But now that the rare breed is finally getting some attention, it's been his worst nightmare.

The powerful dogs burst into the national eye last week when one named Bane, a 120-pound brindle male, killed a San Francisco woman in the hallway outside her apartment. An investigation into the incident discovered that Bane was one of two dogs at the center of an alleged scheme by two prison inmates to raise vicious beasts to be sold as guard dogs for illegal drug labs or for dog fights.

Pit bulls on steroids.

Harris, a New York City man who has four of the dogs and says he is responsible for the American Kennel Club recognizing the breed, said in the week since the news broke of the fatal attack he's gotten more calls than ever before about the dogs he loves.

But they're from people he doesn't want to talk to. These people are looking for dogs to be used for fighting — and that's why he quit breeding dogs.

Angelika Morwald, the owner of WereWolf Kennels in Cayuga, Ontario, Canada, has had the same experience. Calls have come in from people saying, "I want one of those dogs that killed that woman," or "I want one of those dogs that did the attack," she said.

"We've always had people that were interested in aggressive, vicious dogs and you had to screen them out," she said. "But now they're just coming out and saying they want dogs that kill."

Not Bad Dogs, in Right Hands

Animal care experts were not surprised that the news from San Francisco created a surge of interest in the dogs, because along with an increase in the prevalence of dog fighting they have noticed a tendency towards larger dogs being used in the blood sport.

The presa Canario dog is a breed that originated in the Canary Islands, a mixture of English mastiff, bulldog and a Canary Island herding dog. They are powerful, lowslung dogs, the males weighing as much as 120 pounds.