… My read of the legislation / regulation is that unless this is a restricted breed (which it is not), we cannot use the dog’s breed as grounds for refusing permission … They have amassed pile of press articles and data about the breed’s danger…
If a refusal were to become a Tribunal matter, you might be better off with someone who can be called as an expert witness. My experience from a few Tribunal matters was that well reasoned argument by intelligent adults presented with evidence from credible sources was not weighted as highly as sworn testimony from a witness with relevant expert credentials. I suspect that this is a general bias of the court system. It is as if relying on expert witnesses is a favoured cognitive short cut.
So, if you have a vet, puppy trainer or some other sort of dog expert advise you that your situation is not suitable for that particular dog, this might stand up better than any amount of reasonable ‘doing one’s own research’.