Scottish XL bully owners launch new legal challenge
Stop the XL Bully Ban in Scotland, a group made up of more than 1,600 supporters, is hoping to hire lawyers to challenge new safeguards for the the breed.
The group say the legislation is unclear, unfair and will criminalise innocent dog owners. It wants a judicial review after the success of English campaign group Don’t Ban Me – License Me in securing a hearing challenging the UK government’s ban next month.
The group, which was founded by Amy Peat, have demanded a meeting with Victims and Community Safety Minister Siobhan Brown. It is trying to raise funds for an advocate to apply for a court interdict, which is likely to be in the region of £100,000.
Peat told the Daily Record: “Forcing through this legislation, not debating it and not allowing a vote regardless of the subject of that legislation is a slippery slope.
“We have sent papers to the Scottish government asking for a meeting with dog owners – the one group of people affected by this who were not part of the Minister for Justice’s informal consultation with experts.
“We are experts of our own dogs and of this type of dog and are the people affected by it.”
In response, a Scottish government spokesman told the newspaper: “The new regulations on XL Bully dogs aim to protect public safety and are being introduced as a consequence of similar XL Bully controls brought in by the UK government, which created an unacceptable risk of dogs being moved to Scotland from England and Wales.
“The Scottish government continues to work with Police Scotland, local authorities, animal welfare organisations and other relevant stakeholders to discuss implementation of the new regulations.”
