By David Wilcock, Mailonline deputy political editor
1:47 p.m. September 18, 2023, updated 3:53 p.m. September 18, 2023
- Police officers and veterinarians will discuss the dogs’ characteristics
- A wave of violent attacks followed and the death of Ian Price, 52.
Experts are due to meet this week to try to define the Bully XL are happening again ahead of plans to ban it by the end of the year.
Police and veterinarians will discuss the dogs’ characteristics after a series of violent attacks on people, including the fatal mauling of a father-of-two.
Rishi Sunak The latest decision was to ban the breed a few months after the death of 52-year-old Ian Price.
But questions have been raised about how to determine which animals are XL bullies and are covered by the ban, and which are not.
In a written statement to MPs today, Environment Secretary Therese Coffey said: “The Environment Secretary and the Home Secretary will convene experts to define the “American XL bully” breed type. This group will include police officers, canine and veterinary experts, as well as animal welfare stakeholders. This is a vital first step towards being added to the list of banned dogs under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
Measures will be put in place to “safely manage” the existing population once the ban comes into force, Downing Street said this morning.
The ban will include an amnesty for existing owners on the condition that their animals are registered, neutered and muzzled when in public.
Government officials stressed last night that by requiring all owners to sterilize their bully dogs, the breed would simply disappear. No culling is currently planned.
American bullies are a relatively new breed, born in the 1980s. They are mixed breed bulldogs, typically American pit bull terriers crossed with American, English and Olde English bulldogs.
Although the XL bully is the most common, dogs can also be crossed with mastiffs and other larger dogs to make them larger, XXL or even XXXL.
Despite their relative popularity in the UK, they are not officially registered as a breed by the UK Kennel Club, making it difficult to know exactly how many there are in the country.
The Prime Minister on Friday called the dogs “a danger to our communities” and pledged to introduce rules by the end of the year under the Dangerous Dogs Act to ban them.
It follows a horrific incident 24 hours earlier, when Mr Price was mauled to death in a frenzied attack by two alleged bullies.
Days earlier, 11-year-old Ana Paun was injured by an American bully – a guy linked to 10 deaths since 2021.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said a “transition period” would be introduced, with details likely to follow a consultation on the plan.
Rishi Sunak has promised to ban the breed by the end of the year, but owners of American XL bully dogs should not face the culling of their pets.
Owners could be forced to sterilize their dogs and muzzle them in public, the government’s chief veterinarian has suggested.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: “We will need to safely manage the existing population of these dogs. Exactly what that looks like will be a matter for consultation.
“And there will need to be some sort of transition period.”