Two-year amnesty for XL Bully dog: Outright ban to 'hit owners in 2025 as pets must meet criteria or be put down'

16 September 2023, 00:15 | Updated: 16 September 2023, 00:20

By Kieran Kelly

@kellyjourno

A two year amnesty for XL Bully dogs is likely to precede an outright ban of the breed, as pets who fail to meet certain criteria expected to be put down.

The Prime Minister announced on Friday that the XL Bully dog will be banned in the UK, shortly after it was confirmed a 52-year-old dad died in a dog attack in Staffordshire on Thursday.

Rishi Sunak said the breed had showed a "pattern of behaviour" and that "it cannot go on".

Government sources have suggested the ban is going to be based off a ban that was introduced for pitbulls two decades ago.

After the law banning the breed has passed, an amnesty period is expected to remain in place until 2025.

Following the amnesty period, dogs must pass a certain set of conditions or face being put down.

In the meantime, XL Bully dogs will have to be muzzled in public, kept on a lead at all times, and neutered.

Breeding and importing the dog will also become illegal.

The XL Bully dog ban was announced after the death of Ian Price, who died after the two XL bully dogs attacked him in Stonnall, Staffordshire yesterday afternoon.

Mr Price, a dog owner himself who ran an art repair business, died after being mauled by the dogs, which police said are believed to be XL Bullys.

A witness told The Sun: “I saw it. It was so awful I can barely talk about it.“They got through the hedge behind the house and appeared in the elderly lady’s garden. Her son had gone out to protect her. 

Read more: What does the XL Bully ban mean for dog owners?

Raad More: Tributes paid as hero dad 52, mauled to death by two XL Bully dogs ‘while protecting his mother’

Under the already existing Dangerous Dogs Act, which came into force in 1991, owners of dogs that attack people can be fined £5,000 or even jailed.

Four dogs are currently banned under the act: pit bull terriers, Japanese Tosers, Dogo Argentinos and Fila Brasileiros.

The XL Bully dog ban will come into force after figures show 10 people have been killed by the breed in the last two years.

But some animal charities have warned the ban will not stop dog attacks, arguing previous bans have not stopped a rise in incidents in recent years.

"For 32 years, the Dangerous Dogs Act has focused on banning types of dog and yet has coincided with an increase in dog bites, and the recent deaths show that this approach isn't working," a spokesperson for the Dog Control Coalition said.

"The UK Government must tackle the root issue by dealing with the unscrupulous breeders who are putting profit before welfare, and the irresponsible owners whose dogs are dangerously out of control."

A number of high-profile charities have backed the statement, including the Kennel Club and the RSPCA.