One year since the XL bully ban: How many dogs have been seized?
It's been a year since the XL bully ban came in, but how many dogs have been seized, and who's paying for the restrictions to be policed?
Since February last year, it has been a criminal offence to own an XL bully dog in England and Wales without an exemption certificate.
The new law also made it a requirement for all XL Bully dogs to be kept on a lead and muzzled when in public, it is also made it illegal to breed, sell, advertise, gift, exchange, abandon or let XL Bully dogs stray.
The new legislation means unregistered pets will be taken and owners possibly fined and prosecuted, but how many dogs have been seized and who is paying for policing the ban?
How many XL bullys have been seized since the ban came in?
There's no definitive figure for the number of XLbullies seized because, other banned types of dog under Section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 include the pit bull terrier, Japanese Tosa, dogo Argentino and fila Brasileiro; and all of these breeds are also included in the figures.
In total police forces seized 4,586 suspected Section 1 banned dogs throughout England and Wales between February and September 2024.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said forces in England and Wales euthanised 848 dogs between February and September 2024 at an estimated cost of £340,000.
These were dogs which were surrendered to police by owners who had not complied with the ban, nor taken advantage of the compensation scheme.
How much is it costing?
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said this week that kennel spaces were “reaching capacity”, with costs “increasing by the day”.
The policing body said veterinary bills and the cost of kennelling banned dog breeds had risen from £4 million in 2018 to more than £11 million between February and September 2024, adding it can cost around £1,000 a month to keep an XL bully in kennels.
The NPCC said the figure is expected “to rise to as much as £25 million” for the period from February 2024 to April 2025 – representing a predicted 500% increase in police costs from 2018.
Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, the NPCC’s lead for dangerous dogs, said the ban was placing “a huge burden on policing”.
He called for Government support to cope with the demand the ban has placed on police resources.
Mr Hobrough said conversations with Defra were ongoing but there was no formal agreement about providing additional funding to account for the demand.
According to the NPCC, there were 120 dog liaison officers across England and Wales before the ban, with 100 subsequently trained, and a further 40 to be trained.
The NPCC said around £560,000 had been spent by police forces on staff overtime between February and September last year in relation to dogs.
Mr Hobrough said alternative methods such as out of court disposals would support police as court backlogs increase the burden.