Dog rescue centre 'in limbo' over XL bully legislation

It is against the law to sell, give away, abandon or breed from an XL bully in England and Wales

There is too much confusion surrounding the newly introduced XL bully legislation resulting in "good dogs dying", an animal charity owner has said.

It is now against the law to sell, give away, abandon or breed from an XL bully in England and Wales and since February it has been a criminal offence to own an XL bully without an exemption certificate.

Steven Wakelin, who runs Wolfwood Wildlife and Dog Rescue in Lancaster, has plenty of experience working with dogs and said there was a big grey area when it came to the rules.

He said the new legislation stated dogs with a "substantial number of XL bully characteristics" were banned.

'Causing stress'

He said police had refused to help them with guidance and the charity was "clogged up" with much-loved dogs "in limbo" as they did not know if they were able to rehome them.

An XL bully is the largest kind of American bully dog and there have been a number of attacks involving the dogs, some fatal.

The government has published guidance to help identify XL bullies which were not recognised as a specific breed.

Mr Wakelin added the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) said if dogs had 60% characteristics of an XL then it cannot go anywhere.

"Some of the dogs we know we are not going to place and that is causing a lot of stress for those people involved," he said.

"Good dogs are dying and all we really need is someone to come in and say clearly this is a dog that can go to a new home [or] this is a dog that cannot go to a new home.

"We are persecuting all large bull dogs that aren't in the UK Kennel Club registration so all cross-breeds are caught up in it," he said.

He added police had "refused blankly to help us".

"This law was rushed in there was no infrastructure put in place, there was no funding put in for the police to implement this, so I understand it, but we are six months down the line and we are still sat here not knowing what the heck we are supposed to do with these dogs."

He said it was leaving the charity "facing tough decisions" on the future of the animals.

"The charity isn't able to function as it should because we are clogged up with these dogs in limbo," he said.

Mr Wakelin added it was also preventing the charity from taking in some dogs "because we don't know if we are allowed to receive them or not".

The RSPCA said it had highlighted these issues with Defra since the ban was announced last year and were calling for an urgent review of the legislation.

Dog welfare expert Dr Samantha Gaines said: "While we're desperate to give [all dogs we take in] the chance to find loving new homes, this legislation means that should they conform with the description of an XL Bully we can't rehome them with a member of the public and we have no choice but to put them to sleep."

She said due to the speed with which the legislation was introduced, and the number of dogs affected by it, dog legislation officers were unable to come out to rescue centres to formally assess and identify those dogs so the RSPCA have had to bring in independent experts to assess all suspected dogs.

"While police are caught up enforcing this ban, there is even less resource to manage dogs - irrespective of their type or breed - who pose a genuine risk to public safety," she said.

A Defra spokesperson said: "The ban on XL bullies is an important measure to protect public safety, and we expect all XL bully owners to comply with the strict conditions.

"We continue to work with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to prevent dog attacks by encouraging responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog."

The National Police Chief Council has been contacted for comment.

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