Government says ‘no plans’ to ban American Bully XL
The government has said it had “no plans” to add the American Bully XL to the list of banned breeds, despite a series of dog attacks recently.
In response to a written question in the House of Lords asking what consideration the government has given to adding the Bully XL to the list of banned dog breeds, Environment Minister Lord Benyon said: “We take the issue of dangerous dogs and fatal dog attacks seriously and are making sure enforcement measures are fully utilised for all breeds of dog.
“These measures range from Community Protection Notices that can be served for low-level anti-social behaviour to offences under the Dangerous Dogs Act – where serious offences can see people put in prison for up to 14 years, disqualified from ownership or their dog euthanised if they allow it to become dangerously out of control.”
He added that the government is working “in partnership with the police, local authorities and animal welfare organisations to ensure that the full range of existing dog control powers are effectively applied, encourage responsible dog ownership and reduce the risk of dog attacks”.
“We currently have no plans to add additional breed types to the banned breed list. It is already an offence under section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to allow any dog to be dangerously out of control in any place,” he noted.
Meanwhile, a YouGov survey seen by broadcaster GBNews found that 57% of respondents supported a ban, with 17% against it.
What’s more, dog owners favour a ban by 2:1, while there was a near 90% majority for wanting owners to be criminally liable if their dog attacks a person or pet.
One Comment
charlotte Kasner, MA, AdipCBM, AdipFBM, KPA-CTP, ABTC-AT,MISAP
This displays a fundamental misunderstanding of canine behaviour. It has been proved time and time again in every country that uses it that BSL does not work.
It simply encourages the breeding of yet more unsuitable crosses to circumvent legisaltion and it lulls the public into a false sense of security that non-banned breeds are somehow automatically “safe”. There has been a rash of ill-informed articles by journalists, including science journalists, that do not understand the way that this works in practice.
This is, of course, not the reason why the government are not considering a ban – it is more to do with lack of inclinations and parliamentary time.