Vets put down 27 XL Bullies despite 'no attacks'

Police commissioner Dan Price said it was possible the XL Bully dogs had been put down on a voluntary basis

Vets have put 27 XL Bully dogs to sleep in Cheshire in the last 12 months, a meeting of policing bosses heard.

Questions were raised as to why so many of the banned breed had been euthanised if there had been no known attacks.

The Cheshire Police and Crime Panel was told it was possible owners had decided to have their dogs destroyed because of the ban.

Cheshire Police said it had seized 75 dogs and brought 22 prosecutions, with 14 more due to go to court.

Dogs seized

Councillor Judy Snowball told the panel that "if there have been no attacks in Cheshire, I would be interested in the law behind this".

She said she could understand prosecutions where the law had been broken in a certificate of exemption not being obtained or renewed.

But in those cases the individual who owned the dog would be taken to court, she said.

"I’m interested to know why the actual dogs have been euthanised in this," she said.

Panel member Gemma Shepherd-Etchells said she knew of cases of owners asking for their dogs to be euthanised.

In England and Wales it is a criminal offence to own or possess an XL Bully without a valid certificate of exemption.

It is also an offence to sell an XL Bully, abandon an XL Bully or let it stray, give one away, breed from one or have an XL bully in public without a lead and muzzle.

Until March this year, owners who had their dogs put down could apply for £200 in compensation.

Cheshire Police and Crime Commissioner Dan Price said he would ask Cheshire Police for more information about the dogs put down.