The Home Secretary has thrown her weight behind a ban of controversial XL bully canines saying the breed is “terrorising our communities”, after an 11-year-old girl became the latest victim of an attack.

Suella Braverman is pushing for an finish to the canine roaming Britain’s streets, arguing they're a "clear and lethal danger", significantly to youngsters.

The Cabinet minister introduced she has commissioned "urgent advice" on outlawing the canines after she highlighted the "appalling" assault on the younger schoolgirl in Birmingham.

However, including canines to the banned checklist is the accountability of Environment Secretary Therese Coffey's division, the place it’s reported there are considerations over the feasibility of including the American Bully.

The breed have been linked to 9 fatalities since 2021, together with the deaths of three youngsters.

Attacks by the canines, which are sometimes bred as a standing image, make up 73 p.c of dog-related deaths within the UK since 2022.

Ms Braverman told The Sun: “Myself and the Policing Minister Chris Philp have commissioned urgent advice on options to enhance public safety, and ban their breeding and sale.

“They are terrorising our communities and pose a particular threat to children. It must end.”

Campaign group Bully Watch UK stated the frequency of assaults by XL bullys meant Britons had been 270 occasions extra more likely to be killed by the breed than some other sort of canine.

The canine just isn't a recognised as a selected breed by the Kennel Club. It may very well be laborious to outline and a ban may inadvertently outlaw a variety of different canines, some concern.

Ms Braverman seized on news that West Midlands Police was investigating after the lady and two males who intervened had been injured within the incident within the Bordesley Green space on Saturday.

She posted on social media: "This is appalling. The American XL Bully is a clear and lethal danger to our communities, particularly to children.

"We cannot go on like this. I've commissioned pressing recommendation on banning them."

The advice was commissioned last week, an adviser said. It is against the law to own, breed or sell dogs on the list drawn up by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

But it is also against the law to have a dog that is dangerously out of control, which can be punished by prison sentences and unlimited fines.

Emma Whitfield, the mother of 10-year-old Jack Lis - who died after being mauled by an American bully in Caerphilly, South Wales, has been calling for a change in the law.

Sir John Hayes, a close ally of Ms Braverman, has been pushing in the House of Commons for a ban on the dog he has claimed is "bred to kill".

However, animal charities including the RSPCA have been pushing for an end to breed-specific bans which they say work against dogs perceived to be "harmful" and lead to thousands of "harmless" animals being put down.

Instead they want to focus on individual actions and dangerous owners.

A Dogs Trust spokesman said: "Dogs Trust needs to see the present canine management legal guidelines changed with one consolidated legislation that enables for early intervention with a concentrate on the prevention of canine chunk incidents and contains measures that deter and punish house owners of canines whose behaviour is harmful.”

There are at the moment 4 banned breeds of canine within the UK: the pit bull terrier, Japanese tosa, dogo Argentino and fila Brasileiro.

A Defra spokesman stated: "We take dog attacks and anti-social behaviour very seriously and are making sure the full force of the law is being applied.

"This can vary from lower-level Community Protection Notices - which require canine house owners to take acceptable motion to handle behaviour - to extra critical offences below the Dangerous Dogs Act, the place folks might be put in jail for as much as 14 years, be disqualified from possession or lead to harmful canines being euthanised."