The UK will ban the American XL Bully dog by the end of the year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced. It comes after a man died in England in a suspected attack by a XL bully dog on Thursday, the latest such incident.
PM Sunak said on Friday that he has ordered to legally define the breed of the dog behind the recent attacks so it can be banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act. The act applies in England, Wales and Scotland.
While the American XL Bully dog is specified as a breed in the USA, it is not defined as a specific breed in the UK by British dog associations. Therefore, defining it as a specific breed will be the necessary first step before banning it in the UK. The dog started to appear in the UK only around 2014-15, but their numbers are growing rapidly.
“The American XL Bully dog is a danger to our communities, particularly to our children” Rishi Sunak wrote on X along with a video message. “It’s clear this is not about a handful of badly trained dogs, it’s a pattern of behaviour and it cannot go on,” Sunak said in the video message.
It’s clear the American XL Bully dog is a danger to our communities.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) September 15, 2023
I’ve ordered urgent work to define and ban this breed so we can end these violent attacks and keep people safe. pic.twitter.com/Qlxwme2UPQ
Sunak said that the decision to ban the dog was taken after a fatal dog attack on Thursday in Walsall in England’s West Midlands region. He added that after the breed is defined as a breed, new laws will be in place by the end of the year to ban it. “These dogs are dangerous. I want to reassure the public that we will take all necessary steps to keep people safe,” the PM added.
While it is believed that two XL Bully dogs were behind the Thursday attack, it is yet to be confirmed. However, the breed has been linked with several dog attack cases in the UK, including fatal cases.
An 11-year-old girl was attacked by an American bully XL in Birmingham on Saturday. Two men who intervened to save the girl were also treated in hospital after being bitten by the animal. In April, a 65-year-old woman was killed after she tried to break up a fight between her two American Bullies at her home in Liverpool. According to reports, more than half of all fatal dog attacks in the UK are caused by this breed.
XL is the largest of the four types of American Bully dogs, the other three being standard, pocket and, classic. American XL bully can weigh upto 60 kg, and can easily overpower an adult person. American Bullies are the result of cross-breeding between American Pit Bull Terriers and American Staffordshire Terriers.
Due to cases of attacks, American XL Bully dogs are already banned in some other countries such as Turkey and UAE. In some other countries including Ireland there are restrictions on their ownership, requiting them to be muzzled and lashed when out in public.
Under the Dangerous Dogs Act of the UK, some other breeds have been banned, including Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentinos, and Fila Brazileiro. Crossbreeds of the banned breeds are also banned under this law.
