XL Bully ban stretching frontline police
A former dog legislation officer said frontline police enforcing the legislation have been ‘swamped’ after the ban came into force last year
The XL Bully ban is heaping “tremendous” pressure on overstretched frontline police enforcing the Government law, an ex-dog legislation officer (DLO) has warned.
Michael Barnett, who served with Warwickshire Police, said a lack of DLOs was leaving some forces with one officer on limited training managing up to 900 potentially dangerous dogs leaving some units “swamped”.
It comes despite police chiefs revealing this week that dog liaison officer numbers have increased by 100 from 120 before the ban came into effect a year ago.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) also warned kennel spaces were “reaching capacity”, with costs soaring by 500 per cent since 2018 and increasing daily after more than 4,500 XL Bullies were seized since the ban.

The ban was brought in after a number of people, including children, were killed by the breed.
Mr Barnett, an expert witness in dangerous dog cases, told The i Paper: “They [police forces] are really scraping around wherever they can to find kennel space.
“The strain it is putting on all dog legislation officers is tremendous.
“It’s just the constant flow of work. High pressure because there’s so many dogs and there’s so few DLOs.
“They’ve tried to increase the numbers, and they’ve run more courses, but then you’ve got other officers that are feeling the pressure at the other end.”
Local authorities have also waded into the row citing “substantial financial pressures” on council dog-team officers as they urged the Government for more funding.

Policing minister Dame Diana Johnson said she was aware of the “cost pressure” the ban was putting on police and said she wants to make sure forces get more funding.
As well as the 100 additional DLOs, Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, the NPCC’s lead for dangerous dogs, said 40 more have been identified to be trained this year.
But that meant in some areas established dog handlers have been called away from other policing duties, he added.
Frontline officers visiting a property to seize dogs were also having to face the “anger” of owners, Mr Barnett said.
“The officers have got to go out and make a decision on whether the dog is an XL Bully or not. Bearing in mind the training they get is only limited,” he said.
“You still got some forces that have got dedicated units, but they’re just swapped.
“Every force has at least one DLO but even the smallest forces can have somewhere in the region of eight to 900 dogs in their force area. And that’s just the ones that have been self exempted.”
On Sunday, a woman mauled by an XL Bully in London’s Primrose Hill area was rushed to A&E with severe lacerations, bite marks and heavy bruises on her arm and body after what she described as a “near-death experience”.
The 42-year-old was badly bitten in the grounds of a church as she tried to defend her two poodles.
She told the Camden New Journal: “This massive XL Bully came from nowhere as it was unleashed and lunged at them.
“I picked up my dogs to save them and the Bully ferociously began its attack on me – two men, presumably one was the owner, tried vainly to wrestle him off me.
“The dog bit through my clothes, ripping my jeans and thick winter coat and wouldn’t let go of my arm. Eventually the two guys ran off with their monster dog and I spent hours in A&E. If I hadn’t been wearing such a thickwinter coat and layers I would not have an arm today.
“The dog bites were extremely painful and I was bleeding. The dog wouldn’t stop biting – it was definitely a near-death experience.”
Mr Barnett believes forces could make more use of interim exemption orders as a way of driving down kennel costs, but feels they are “risk averse” due to fears a dog may carry out an attack.
Under the orders, a chief constable can agree for a dog to not be placed in kennels so long as it is on a lead, muzzled and neutered.
“If you’re just seizing the dog in relation to type and there’s no bite incident, is there good enough grounds to keep the dog in kennels for the next six months until it comes to court?” he added.
Using the interim exemption scheme may mean dogs are only kept for two to three weeks instead while measures like neutering are taken, he added.
From 1 February last year, it became a criminal offence to own the XL Bully breed in England and Wales without an exemption certificate.
Anyone who owns must have had the animal neutered and microchipped and must keep it muzzled and on a lead in public, among other restrictions.
The NPCC said the ban had “undoubtedly” driven down the number of dog attacks after the Government said XLs were “disproportionately involved” in a spike in fatal attacks
But Cllr Heather Kidd, from the Local Government Association, said the ban had hit councils with “substantial financial pressures”.
“In addition to training, implementation, and opportunity costs by council dog-team officers, it caused a sharp rise in private kennelling and other payments that strained already scarce local authority resources,” she said.
Central Government must speed up “new burdens funding the implement the ban, she added.
Defra was contacted for comment.