What is an XL bully dog? Experts to meet this week to try to define the breed ahead of planned ban by the end of the year following fatal attack on dad-of-two
- Police officers and vets will hold talks about the dogs' characteristics
- Follows a spate of violent attacks and death of Ian Price, 52.
Experts are due to meet this week to try to define the XL Bully breed ahead of plans to ban it by the end of the year.
Police officers and vets will hold talks about the dogs' characteristics after a spate of violent attacks on people, including the fatal mauling of a father of two.
Rishi Sunak last moved to outlaw the breed within months after the death of Ian Price, 52.
But questions have been raised over how to determine which animals are XL bullies and affected by the ban, and which are not.
In a written statement to MPs today, Environment Secretary Therese Coffey said: ‘The Environment Secretary and the Home Secretary will convene experts to define the ”American XL bully” breed type. This group will include police, canine and veterinary experts, and animal welfare stakeholders. This is a vital first step towards adding it to the list of dogs banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act.'
Police officers and vets will hold talks about the dogs' characteristics after a spate of violent attacks on people, including the fatal mauling of a father of two.
MAULED TO DEATH: Ian Price, 52, who was killed by these suspected XL bullies (pictured below) in Staffordshire on Thursday
Measures will be put in place to ‘safely manage' the existing population once a ban comes into force, Downing Street said this morning.
The ban will include an amnesty for existing owners as long as their pets are registered, neutered and muzzled when in public.
Government officials stressed last night that by requiring all owners to get their bully dogs neutered, the breed would simply die out. There are currently no plans for a cull.
American bullies are a relatively new breed, having originated in the 1980s. They are mixed breed bulldogs, typically American pitbull terriers crossed with American, English and Olde English bulldogs.
Though the bully XL is the most common, the dogs can also be bred with mastiffs and other larger dogs to make them bigger, XXL or even XXXL.
Despite their relative popularity in the UK, they are not officially registered as a breed by the UK Kennel Club, making it difficult to know exactly how many are in the country.
On Friday, the Prime Minister branded the dogs a ‘danger to our communities' and vowed to bring in rules by the end of the year under the Dangerous Dogs Act to ban them.
It came after a horrific incident 24 hours earlier when Mr Price was mauled to death in a frenzied attack by two suspected bullies.
Days before, Ana Paun, 11, was hurt by an American bully – a type linked to 10 deaths since 2021.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said a ‘transition period' would be introduced, with details likely to follow a consultation on the plan.
Rishi Sunak has promised to ban the breed by the end of the year but owners of American XL bully dogs are not expected to face a cull of their pets.
Owners could face a requirement to neuter their dogs and muzzle them in public, the Government's chief vet has suggested.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: ‘We will need to safely manage the existing population of these dogs. Exactly what that looks like will be a topic for the consultation.
‘And there will need to be some sort of transition period.'
