Sobering conclusion to the XL Bully ban in England and Wales

Since the ban on XL Bully dogs, more than 800 animals have been euthanized in England and Wales. (symbol image)

Source: dpa


Almost a year after XL bully dogs were banned in England and Wales, the conclusion of a BBC report is sobering. Although the number of dogs euthanized has increased significantly since then, there has been no attack, the BBC reported, citing authorities.
According to this, almost 820 dogs were euthanized between January and August – more than 100 per month. That is more than twice as many as in the entire previous year. The report did not reveal which dog breeds these were in detail. In 22 of 25 police departments in the two parts of the country that responded to a BBC query, the number of dog attack incidents was still on track to increase.

The ban was introduced and gradually came into force after a number of high-profile and sometimes fatal incidents involving XL bully dogs. From December 21, 2023, breeding and sales were prohibited. Since February of this year, keeping animals has also been prohibited unless they were already registered before it came into force.

The association of police chiefs, the National Police Chief Council's (NPCC), criticized that the ban would lead to great financial and personnel expenditure for the police. Accordingly, the costs of keeping and caring for confiscated dogs rose from 4 to 25 million pounds (around 4.8 million euros and 30 million euros). Another problem is that XL bully dogs are not easy to identify as such.

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