Extra police staff to manage XL bully ban workload

Merseyside Police has spent an extra £400,000 on dog-related policing sine the XL bully ban came in

A police force has had to take on new staff and build kennels in stations to cope with the extra workload since the ban on XL bully dogs came in last year.

Merseyside Police has spent about £400,000 more on its dog section in the last 12 months compared with the year before.

In February 2024 it became a criminal offence to own an XL bully except with a special exemption.

Merseyside Police said XL bullies were not the only dangerous dogs the force had to deal with, adding it would continue to make sure "communities are safe from all types of dogs that pose a danger to people".

The force told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it tried to keep dogs for "the shortest time possible" but how long they were kennelled for depended on the time it took cases to go through the courts.

Policing related to dogs cost £266,068 between February 2023 to February 2024.

From February 2024 to January the sum had risen to £664,000.

Merseyside Police has not said whether the extra costs were covered by existing dog control unit budgets.

Dogs currently banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act are the Pit bull terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, Fila Braziliero and the XL bully.

Merseyside Police said it had expected an increase in costs after the ban came in.

It said "reasons for the increase includes increased kennel and veterinary costs, new internal kennels placed at local stations to house more dogs, and new staff to manage them".

In 2023, 19 people were killed in the UK in attacks by dogs found or suspected to be XL bullies.

A law adding them to the list of banned breeds came into force on 31 January of that year.