One dog destroyed every 5 days following XL bully ban

The law was introduced earlier this year, but some Kent owners are asking for lighter restrictions.  Oliver Leader De Saxe reports.

Transcript

00:00Meet Colin, he's just one of thousands of XL bullies now muzzled and on lead after the

00:07breed was designated as dangerous dogs at the beginning of this year.

00:12The ban means dogs like Colin have to be registered with the authorities and neutered, with owners

00:18risking an unlimited fine and up to 6 months in prison for not complying.

00:25Colin is not the only XL bully here in Kent, he's one of nearly 2,000 to have been registered

00:31since the ban came into place, according to exclusive data obtained by the Kent Messenger.

00:36What makes Colin different though is he has epilepsy and just about crosses the height

00:43restrictions for the breed.

00:45His owner Stephanie thinks he's a borderline case and that restrictions need to be changed

00:50slightly to allow for better treatment of dogs with specialist needs.

00:55It's not that I don't agree with the ban, it's I don't agree with the way it's been

01:00implemented and it was rushed through if you like, especially for dogs that do have any

01:08medical conditions, I mean, you know, it's very much something needed to be done but

01:13something fit for purpose.

01:14Now new data shows that Kent police have seized nearly 70 bullies in the first 6 months of

01:20the ban, destroying 34 of them.

01:24That's one bully every 5 days.

01:27The ban was introduced after a rise in dog attacks since 2021, but one Maidstone expert

01:33has warned that breed bans don't tackle the root causes of why these attacks happen.

01:39From looking at statistics where we've had pit bulls banned in the past and things like

01:42that, it doesn't result in fewer bites.

01:45So again, I think it was probably, a lot of us trainers maybe think it was probably just

01:48an immediate reaction from the government because we did have a lot, obviously there

01:51is something going on potentially with XL bullies.

01:53We have had a lot of unfortunate deaths and of course that's very, very sad and that shouldn't

01:57be happening.

01:58But I think what happens if we just ban these breeds, it is just a sticking plaster on kind

02:04of a very ineffective plaster on the situation rather than trying to make the situation better

02:08in the long term.

02:09The government say they introduced these measures to protect public safety and while many in

02:15Kent have welcomed the new restrictions, calls for strict licensing on owners rather

02:21than an outright ban persist.

02:24Oliver, leader of the SAC for KMTV in Chatham.