XL bully victim calls ban ‘useless’ as police destroy 100 dogs a month

She said owners of dogs like the one that savaged her arm should be banned from buying further animals. However, in her case, the owner had replaced his dog "within weeks".

New laws restricting the breeding and sale of XL bullies came into force on 31 December last year after a series of high-profile attacks, some of them fatal. In February, it became illegal to own a dog of this type, unless it was registered before the deadline.

There are now five banned types of dog in Britain - XL bully, pit bull terrier, Japanese Tosa, Doga Argentino and Fila Braziliero. Dogs registered before the ban must be neutered, muzzled in public and kept in secure conditions.

When the law was introduced, the UK government suggested there were about 10,000 XL bully dogs in England and Wales, but that was a vast underestimate - there are now more than 57,000 of the dogs registered with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Freedom of Information Act responses from 19 police forces in England and Wales show that in the first eight months of 2024:

With some seized dogs staying in police kennels for months while their breed or type is confirmed, more than half of the forces that provided responses about their kennels said they were full or near capacity.

Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, the National Police Chief Council's (NPCC) lead for dangerous dogs, said the change in the law had put significant pressure on police forces and added an "incredible" amount of extra costs for them to absorb.

The costs of kennels and veterinary bills had risen from £4m to £25m, but that did not account for the additional costs of training staff, buying additional vehicles and equipment, renting short-term kennels and the wider operational costs of policing more dangerous dogs than ever, he said.

He said the NPCC was putting forward "a strong request" for more government money to meet the requirements of the XL bully ban.

The chiefs of the 43 police forces in England and Wales also want a change in the law to give officers alternative ways of dealing with people found in possession of dangerous dogs.

Part of what makes policing the ban difficult is that working out whether a dog is an XL bully can require specialist training and sometimes outside expertise, which means keeping the dogs kennelled for long periods.

The government published guidance to help identify XL bullies, which are defined as a "type" of dog because they are not a Kennel Club-recognised breed. They are described as large dogs "with a muscular body and blocky head, suggesting great strength and power for [their] size".

Additional reporting by Jonathan Fagg and Emily Doughty