Berkshire and Hampshire dog centre criticises XL Bully ban
Battersea Old Windsor tells us the ban will be 'ineffective'
We're hearing criticism from a Berkshire and Hampshire dog centre that the XL Bully ban will not yield the results the government want.
It is now a criminal offence to own an XL Bully dog in England and Wales unless it is registered for a Certificate of Exemption.
The deadline to register for the exemption was yesterday (January 31st) at Midday.
Since December 31st, XL Bullies must be leashed and muzzled in public with prohibitions on breeding and other activities involving the breed.
These new regulations for XL Bully dogs were introduced a surge in high-profile fatal attacks caused by bully bites.
Rob Bays from Battersea Dog's Home Old Windsor says:
"It's had a huge impact on our staff, our volunteers, its upsetting to people who work in the industry who dedicate their lives to animal care to see dogs who do not have any behavioural concerns being potential categorised as 'dangerous'.
"In reality, there's so many factors that can contribute to a dog using aggression - and breed isn't necessarily one of those.
"We think that the government should be looking at enforcing stricter guidance around breeding and the sale of dogs rather than adding breeds to the banned breed list.
"We believe this will be an ineffective form of reducing dog bites so its really sad for us to see, and its really sad to know that those dogs have been popped on there and they will have to go through this process."