XL bully dog ban a ‘huge burden’ on policing, chiefs say

Police enforcement of the ban on owning XL bully dogs is placing a “huge burden” on forces, police chiefs have said.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said they are facing a “number of challenges in kennel capacity, resourcing and ever-mounting costs”.

The NPCC lead for dangerous dogs, Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, said kennelling costs and veterinary bills in England and Wales had risen from £4m in 2018 to more than £11m between February and September 2024 – during the first eight months of the ban.

He added that by April this year, forces predict they could have spent £25m, a rise of 500%.

The ban was introduced in England and Wales on 1 February 2024 following a number of attacks involving the dogs. Similar restrictions were also introduced in Scotland, while in Northern Ireland, XL bullies now have to be muzzled and kept on a lead in public.

It is a criminal offence to own an XL bully dog where they are banned without an exemption certificate, meaning unregistered pets will be taken and owners possibly fined and prosecuted.

“Policing will uphold the government’s decisions, and we’ll act robustly to do so, but the bigger picture is a focus on responsible dog ownership,” Mr Hobrough said.

He said that while the force’s response to the ban has “driven down” the number of dog attacks, “the demand has been and continues to be simply huge”.

“As of today we have not received any additional funding to account for this,” he added.

He said conversations were “ongoing” with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs but there had been no formal agreement on funding “to account for these additional demand factors”.

Since the XL bully ban, police forces have increased their kennel capacity by a third. But the NPCC said kennel spaces were “reaching capacity”, with costs “increasing by the day”.

The policing body added that it can cost around £1,000 a month to keep an XL bully in a kennel.

In total, between February and September 2024, police forces in England and Wales seized and euthanised 848 dogs at an estimated cost of £340,000, said the NPCC. It said these were dogs surrendered to the police by owners who had not complied with the ban, or not taken advantage of a compensation scheme.

In the same time period, police seized a total of 4,586 dogs suspected of being banned, including XL bullies. So-called Section 1 dogs are banned in the UK under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, and also include the American pit bull terrier, Japanese tosa, Dogo Argentinos, and Fila Brazileiro.

NPCC tactical lead Supt Patrick O’Hara said he did not think all XL bullies were automatically dangerous, but they had the “propensity” to be by their “sheer size and power”.