The case against the XL Bully ban
In just a few hours’ time, Bully XLs will be banned in England and Wales: breeding, selling, advertising, rehoming, or abandoning a Bully will become illegal. In February, the crackdown will continue: from 1 February 2024, it will also become illegal to own an XL Bully dog unless it is registered on the Index of Exempted Dogs. Rishi Sunak has said the breed is a ‘danger to our communities’. But this law, which will condemn innocent dogs, will fail. Britain has already had breed-specific legislation in place for many years, but the statistics show that the Dangerous Dogs Act (DDA), introduced in 1991, is ineffective: between 1999 and 2019, dog bites have increased by 154 per cent from 3,454 to 8,775, according to the RSPCA. Bully XLs have been involved in some of these attacks.
