West Yorkshire dog owners weigh in on XL bully ban as new laws come into force

From today XL bully dogs are illegal to own in West Yorkshire unless the owner has an exemption certificate or can prove they’ve applied for one.

The deadline to apply was midday yesterday, with owners having to fulfil a list of criteria like getting their dog neutered and having third party liability insurance.

The government said the ban was introduced in response to a ‘concerning rise’ in attacks and deaths involving the dogs.

But groups including the RSPCA have said the measures are "not the answer" and warned rescue centres and vets will be unable to cope with a likely surge in demand.

Stacey from Leeds has owned her XL bully Olive for two years and told us the impact of the new rules on responsible owners has been ‘heartbreaking’.

“You can ask anybody that knows us, it’s me and Olive,” she says.

“We are together pretty much together 24/7. I know people will say I’m biased because it’s my dog but she’s just the softest, sweetest girl ever.

“She’s just cuddly, she gets in bed with me. I have my little niece who comes to stay most weekends and they’ve grown up together and are the best of friends.

“In all the time I’ve had her I’ve never seen any sign of any aggression.”

She shows us the muzzle she’s had to buy as part of the new rules, which require XL bullies to wear one while out in public.

Getting Olive into the muzzle takes a lot of time and cheese bribes and once she’s in it, she drags her face along the floor to try and get it off. While out walking Stacey says Olive now just keeps her head down:

'She doesn't enjoy it, she doesn't want to be out'

“Some people are more scared of her when she’s got it on because it looks more frightening. It makes me want to cry, I hate it, I hate doing it to her.

“All she wants to do now is sniff, chew sticks. But she can’t do it.

“She just doesn’t enjoy it, she doesn’t want to be out.

“We’re used to going about to the Peak District but now I’m just weary of whether I should take her there.”

Owners can go to private fields to let their dog off the lead, but Stacey says this is an extra expense:

“The nearest one is around ten minutes away and then you have to pay just to walk your dog. And what about people who don’t drive?

“We also had the exemption certificate, that was £92. Then we’ve got the third-party liability insurance. Muzzle, leads. Neutering, that’s costing £300.

“We’re in a cost of living crisis, it all came out near Christmas…. There’s people who could no way afford all that.”

Stacey does agree there should be some restrictions on who can own an XL bully, but believes banning the breed is just stigmatising the dogs themselves:

“If you’re going to have a dog, have a license, make sure that person is capable of having a dog.

“These are big dogs and in the wrong hands, if they’re not brought up in the right environment, they’re not going to react well in certain situations.

“So yes, something needed to be done, but it’s not going to solve the problem. All that’s going to happen is they’re going to move on to the next big dog.”

'For him to be taken like that was just devastating'

Ellie Moon from Wakefield previously started a petition to get XL bullies banned after her cocker spaniel Marley was killed by one while staying at a dog boarder’s last summer.

She and her fiancé were on holiday abroad and it was the first time they'd ever left him. They had been assured Marley would be the only dog at the boarders, but it turned out he wasn’t.

“The XL bully was in the home and another dog owner came to drop their dog off and left the gate open.

“The XL bully got out of the house and went into the enclosure where all the other dogs were. It just beelined for Marley, like Marley didn’t even know that it was coming.”

Marley was taken to the vet and Ellie got a phone call whilst on holiday to explain what had happened:

“The vet said that nothing was working and that he was deteriorating…and the kindest thing would be to have him put to sleep.

“We asked to go on Facetime so that Marley wasn’t on his own. So they did that for us.

“He was just a lovable, giddy, bouncy dog. He was our baby, he went everywhere with us. And he was just so lovely, like he would have never, ever done anything like this and for him to be taken like that was just devastating.”

Ellie is mostly welcoming the ban on XL bullies but doesn’t want to see dogs in shelters put to sleep:

“I don’t believe that they’re all bad, and I do believe they do deserve a chance at being homed at least once.

“I agree with the registration of them, the neutering and the muzzle-wearing. But I don’t think it’s enough. They need to be taking dog on dog attacks more seriously, and I don’t think just anyone should be able to go and buy a dog.

“There should be something in place where you have to have a stable home and the capability to look after, train and handle that specific breed of dog that you’re going to buy. “