Banning XL bully dogs will not reduce the number of dog attacks, experts have told Sky News – and could make things worse.
The first rules in a phased ban of XL bullies were brought in on 31 December, with owners required to get an exemption by midday today if they did not want their dog euthanised.
From tomorrow, police can seize the dogs if they are not registered or do not comply with strict restrictions – and owners could face a criminal record and unlimited fine.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the restrictions last year after branding the breed a “danger to communities” following a string of attacks.
Some experts say if the government’s aim is to keep people safe, banning a single breed of dogs with a law that has “immediate loopholes” is not the way to go about it.
Professor Carri Westgarth, chair in human-animal interaction at the University of Liverpool, says that some campaigners have likened the ruling to not allowing guns to prevent shooting deaths – “but this is like banning only one make and model of gun”.
Asked if the ban will work, Dr John Tulloch’s answer was simple: “No.”
He is a vet and epidemiologist, also at the University of Liverpool, who researches dog-related injuries and deaths.
In the last 20 years, the number of adults needing hospital treatment after a dog bite has tripled, his research has found. The increase in dog-related injuries predates the appearance of XL bullies to the UK; the crossbreed arrived in about 2014.
“If I genuinely thought the increase over the last 20 years was all due to one dog breed, I would happily say, yeah, we shouldn’t be allowing people to have this breed,” he said. “But I don’t believe that is the case.”
‘This has set the conversation backwards’
There is a link between XL bullies and organised crime, he said, so people looking for the fighting dog’s size and power can simply get another type of big dog – or breed one with those attributes.
He believes that without addressing the causes behind the animals biting, the ban could “potentially” mean more attacks in the future.
He said: “Without a doubt, I think it’s set the conversation to do with dangerous dogs and dog bites backwards a number of years.”
There should be more checks in place for those buying dogs, he added. “I know that I could go online now and by the end of the day, I’ve got a dog. It is that easy… If I suddenly decide to get a mastiff dog that is not suited to my lifestyle or where I live, there’s nothing to stop that from occurring.”
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Hundreds of XL bullies will be destroyed when the ban comes in – but thousands will not. Owners can apply for exemptions to keep their pets, and the government told Sky News the majority of 4,000 applications had been approved.
The new laws mean there are restrictions on exempt XL bullies, including having to be muzzled and on a lead in public.
Given most dog attacks and deaths happen at home, or when the dog escapes, the measures won’t reduce bites in the places where they happen most often, Professor Westgarth said, adding that the exemption scheme does not include an assessment of the dog’s temperament or the owner’s suitability to own a banned breed, as is the case with other banned breeds.
There are also difficulties in defining what an XL bully is as they have no specific DNA markers and are not recognised as a breed in the UK.
“This makes it very difficult for authorities – or even owners – to clearly identify and enforce the ban, and not accidentally include dogs that are not actually XL bullies, or miss dogs that in fact are,” Professor Westgarth said.
Rosie Bescoby, a clinical animal behaviourist, highlighted how height is used as a defining feature: “The difference in one inch will effectively determine whether a bull-breed type dog is deemed dangerous or not,” she said.
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American XL bully dogs to be banned
Are high dog attack rates the new normal?
In 2022, 10 people died in dog attacks. Before that, the average was 3.3 a year.
In 2023, at least eight people died. Statistically speaking, it is too early to say if these numbers will be the new normal for fatal dog attacks, Dr Tulloch said – “but from a sort of normal perspective, it looks as though it is going up”.
They all agreed that bringing the rate down is not as simple as banning one breed.
If not a ban – what?
Prof Westgarth said she would like to see criteria set to ensure “that only dogs of good temperament and physical health are bred from” – but said this would require adequate resourcing of police and local authorities to enforce.
Agencies should also have the “ability and expectations” to share data on problematic dogs and “near-miss” incidents, she said, as responsibilities for dog-related issues only kick in after someone has been bitten, and dog trainers and behaviourists should be regulated.
Societal change is also needed, she added. People need to “believe that all dogs are capable of biting” and “stop trusting that ‘my dog would never hurt anyone’.”
Ms Bescoby said there should be reform to stop dogs being sold on Facebook or Gumtree “without some sort of assessment”, and “enforced education sessions similar to speed awareness for dog owners who have been reported for antisocial behaviour”, as many of the dogs involved in fatal attacks had previously been reported to authorities.
Dog licensing has been touted as a fix – but again there is the problem of expecting “personnel – and cash-strapped” agencies to enforce it, Dr Tulloch pointed out. Owners are also unlikely to find it “socially acceptable” to be asked to cough up hundreds of pounds a year, he added.
He pointed to Ireland, where despite a dog licensing scheme, a recent report showed dog bites needing hospital treatment had doubled in the last 10 years.
Ultimately, a raft of different measures is necessary, the experts said.
A spokesperson for government department Defra (environment, food and rural affairs) said it had taken “quick and decisive action to protect the public” by banning the XL bully type and that measures were being taken to ensure “that the full range of existing powers to tackle dog control issues are effectively applied” across all dog breeds.
The department is working with the Responsible Dog Ownership taskforce, set up between police, local authority groups and animal welfare experts, and says it is considering “the role of education and training to reduce the risk of dog attacks, and how we can address all aspects of irresponsible dog ownership”.
