What does the XL Bully ban mean for dog owners?

15 September 2023, 15:24 | Updated: 15 September 2023, 15:27

XL Bully dogs are set to be banned, after Rishi Sunak said on Friday that new laws would come in by the end of the year.

It comes after several high profile incidents with the dogs, including a man being killed on Thursday night by two XL Bullies, and an 11-year-old girl suffering severe injuries from an attack over the weekend.

Mr Sunak said the dogs represented "a danger to our communities" as he announced the impending ban.

XL Bullies will be added to the government's list of banned breeds.

It is against the law to sell a banned dog, abandon a banned dog, give away a banned dog or breed from a banned dog.

People will now not be able to breed, buy or sell XL bullies. But what are the rules for anyone who already has one?

Read more: XL Bullies should be 'removed or destroyed as soon as possible', says former Home Secretary behind Dangerous Dogs Act

Read more: XL bully breed to be banned in UK after spate of attacks - just hours after man savaged to death

What should you do if you have an XL Bully?

Any existing XL Bullies will have to be muzzled in public and on the lead at all times. They will also have to be neutered.

In some cases where dogs are known to have a history of aggression they will have to be destroyed or sent to kennels.

Police will also be given more powers to take dogs away from owners when puppies if they show signs of ‘low level’ aggression.

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

Read more: How half of all XL bully dogs in Britain are descended from ‘notorious’ LA fighting dog ‘Killer Kimbo’

Which breeds have already been banned?

Already on the list are the Pitbull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Brasileiro.

They were banned in 1991 after the Dangerous Dogs Act was passed.

What has been said?

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the XL bully dog is a ‘danger to our communities’.

He said: “This is not about a handful of badly trained dogs, it’s a pattern of behaviour and it cannot go on.

“We are urgently working on ways to stop these attacks and protect the public.”

“New laws will be in place by the end of the year,” Mr Sunak said.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan told LBC: "I support the governments decision in relation to this."I speak not just as a parent, but as a dog owner. They have done the right thing."

"Some of these dogs have been bred in a way to be violent and aggressive"

Lord Baker, the former home secretary who introduced the dangerous dogs act in 1991, told LBC that the dogs should be neutered or destroyed as soon as possible".

He said: "The existing number of these dogs will have to be neutered or destroyed. They should be removed from the dog-loving-public as soon as possible.

"I strongly support what the Prime Minister has said. It should be done almost immediately. This is a very dangerous breed.

"This dog is bred in order to fight and to be aggressive, and it has done enough damage.

"When I introduced the act Pitbull Terriers over the following acts slowly disappeared, and many were destroyed. And that is what has got to happen again with this dog as soon as possible.

"If any of these dogs do survive, they should be "totally muzzled the entire time"