Suella Braverman calls for ban after girl, 11, and two men are mauled in Birmingham

Home Secretary Suella Braverman is pushing for a ban on XL Bully dogs after one of the animals mauled a girl, 11, and two men.

The dog bit the youngster after she ran past it while it was being walked by its owner in Bordesley Green, Birmingham yesterday (10 September).

Two men intervened but were bitten and left with injuries to their shoulders and arms and all three were taken to hospital to be treated for their injuries.

West Midlands Police said it is investigating the incident but has not revealed the condition of the victims.

Recent research revealed XL Bully’s have been involved in most fatal dog attacks in the UK since 2021 and several MPs and police forces have called for it to be to the list of banned dog breeds breeds.

Now the cabinet minister has announced that she has commissioned “urgent advice” on outlawing the breed, and argued they are a “clear and lethal danger” – particularly to children.

Miss Braverman wrote on social media: “This is appalling. The American XL Bully is a clear and lethal danger to our communities, particularly to children.

“We can’t go on like this.

“I have commissioned urgent advice on banning them.”

Ex-Justice Secretary Robert Buckland also backed a ban on the breeds following the attack.

The South Swindon MP took to X (formerly Twitter) to join those calling for the ban, saying: “I am deeply concerned by the rise of attacks on people, pets and livestock by XL Bully dogs . The Government should take action and ban these dogs.”

It is understood there are concerns over the feasibility of such a ban within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which is responsible for the banned breeds list.

Mr Buckland also shared shocking footage of the attack alongside his post, which shows the dog biting the girl in a crowded street, before a man intervenes.

The animal is then pinned to the floor before bystanders, before it breaks free and then chases another man into a petrol station forecourt. It then catches up with the man and mauls him after he falls to the floor.

The footage, which was recorded on the top of a double-decker bus, then shows the man managing to get up and run away, before he again falls to the floor and is bitten by the animal.

West Midlands Police said after dog went berserk it was taken to a local vet to be checked over before being taken into secure kennels. The force said officers had spoken to the dog’s owners.

It comes just a week after it emerged two XL Bully dogs were shot dead for killing 22 pregnant sheep and attacking dozens of others in North Wales.

Safety campaigners warn the dogs, which weigh up to 70kg, can be difficult to control and have strong jaws and a bite capable of causing serious harm.

The Dangerous Dogs Act already makes it a crime to own some breeds of dogs in the UK, including the Pit Bull Terrier and Japanese Tosa – but the XL Bully is not yet covered by the law despite numerous fatal attacks linked to the breed.

The study of dog attacks found two in four deadly dog attacks Britain in 2021 involved the breed, which are also known an American Bully, and the number rose to six in 10 in 2022, the MailOnline reports.

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Among those who were murdered by American bully dogs was 10-year-old Welsh schoolboy Jack Lis who was attacked while playing at a friend’s house in November 2011.

The youngster’s mother Emma Whitfield, has called for an overhaul of the Dangerous Dogs Act “to make sure that nobody else is ever put in the position of me and my family”

Another person was Jonathan Hogg, 37, was mauled to death by his friend’s dog in May this year in Leigh, Greater Manchester.

Senior Tory MP Sir John Hayes said in June that “no debate” is needed that the breed must be banned.

He added banning the dogs was “something that we want to act on sooner rather than later because it is dangerous”.

The call was echoed by South Yorkshire Police, which said it had dealt with 180 reports of out of control dogs in 2023 and a disproportionate amount involved the breed.

However environment minister Lord Benyon, said in the House of Commons last month that there are ”currently no plans to add additional breed types to the banned breed list”.

West Midlands Police is requesting anyone with information about the incident to contact them and quoting reference number 3245 of 9 September.