American XL bully canine to be banned after assaults, Rishi Sunak says

American XL bully canine are a hazard to communities and might be banned, Rishi Sunak has vowed, after a person was mauled to dying.

Announcing the transfer, the prime minister mentioned he “shared the nation’s horror” at such assaults and so they couldn’t be allowed to proceed.

Mr Sunak was responding to the most recent incident by which a man died after being savaged by two dogs exterior a property in Stonnall, Staffordshire, on Thursday afternoon.

A ban of American bully XL canine was already being checked out after shocking footage emerged of an assault by in Birmingham final weekend that left an 11-year-old girl with serious injuries.

South Yorkshire Police reported 4 separate canine assaults on youngsters in two days, together with one the place a 15-year-old was hospitalised after being savaged by an XL bully in Sheffield.

Police in London are additionally looking the proprietor of a gray Pitbull-type canine that attacked a four-year-old boy on Monday.

In a video assertion posted to X, previously often called Twitter, the Tory chief mentioned: “The American XL bully canine is a hazard to our communities, notably our kids.

“I share the nation’s horror at the recent videos we’ve all seen. Yesterday we saw another suspected XL bully dog attack, which has tragically led to a fatality.

“It is obvious this isn’t a couple of handful of badly skilled canine, it is a sample of behaviour and it can not go on.

“While owners already have a responsibility to keep their dogs under control, I want to reassure people that we are urgently working on ways to stop these attacks and protect the public.

“Today I’ve tasked ministers to convey collectively police and consultants, to firstly outline the breed of canine behind these assaults, with the view to then outlawing it.

“It is not currently a breed defined in law, so this vital first step must happen fast.

“We will then ban the breed below the Dangerous Dogs Act and new legal guidelines might be in place by the tip of the yr.

“These dogs are dangerous, I want to reassure the public that we will take all necessary steps to keep people safe.”

Read extra:
Two XL bully dogs shot dead after killing 22 pregnant sheep
Bully XL owner defends breed but calls for tougher laws

Home Secretary Suella Braverman posted to X: “Today’s tragedy underlines the need to ban the American XL Bully.

“They are a risk to life and trigger distress in our communities.

“We are taking action to ban them and, in the meantime, I expect police to use all available powers to protect the public from these beasts.”

Meanwhile, Downing Street denied the federal government had taken too lengthy to ban American XL bully canine.

Asked whether or not ministers had “dragged their heels” on outlawing the breed, the prime minister’s official spokesman mentioned: “I wouldn’t accept that.

“Clearly this breed of canine is not outlined in legislation so it is proper to take the time to contemplate one of the best ways to place an finish to those horrendous assaults that we’re seeing.”

But there’s concern a transfer to ban the animal is probably not sensible as a result of American XL bully not being recognised as a breed by the Kennel Club, which might imply any ban could inadvertently outlaw other forms of canine.

It has led to calls for for an overhaul of the present laws, so it focuses “not on the breed but the deed”, and even for your complete legislation to be “sent to the knacker’s yard”.

Speaking in parliament on Thursday, Tory former MP Baroness Fookes mentioned: “I suggest that he should be more radical when looking at the Dangerous Dogs Act.

“It is time that that was despatched to the knacker’s yard and a brand new system instituted altogether.

“I say this with some regret because I was the one who introduced it in the other place [the Commons] in the first place.”

At the identical time, former police chief Lord Hogan-Howe known as for a nationwide amnesty to get harmful canine off the streets.

As head of the Merseyside pressure again in 2007, he had launched such a measure following the dying of five-year-old Ellie Lawrenson, who was mauled by a banned pitbull-type canine at her grandmother’s house in St Helens on New Year’s Day.

Campaign teams have welcomed the federal government’s deliberate ban.

In a joint assertion, Bully Watch, the Campaign for Evidence Based Regulation of Dangerous Dogs (CEBRDD) and Protect Our Pets claimed the breed was a “a clear and present threat to public health”.

Lawrence Newport, of CEBRDD, mentioned: “Retrievers retrieve, pointers point. Fighting dogs fight. We have found this to our great cost.

“The importing of the American bully, a extremely inbred pitbull-type, led to skyrocketing deaths and assaults. This ban will lastly enable the federal government and police to behave, earlier than one other little one or pet is ripped aside.”