Colchester City Council reveals it will not collect XL bully strays

American XL bully dogs will no longer be collected by Colchester City Council due to "health and safety concerns"

American XL bully dogs will no longer be collected by a council's dog wardens due to "health and safety concerns."

Colchester City Council said its team was not trained to "handle such powerful dogs should they become aggressive".

The move came after a parliamentary evidence session on Wednesday about the breed, which is set to be banned.

But dog law specialist Trevor Cooper told BBC Essex the council had a statutory duty to collect stray dogs.

The council said it was discussing options with Essex Police and the RSPCA.

Colchester City Council said its dog wardens are not trained to "handle such powerful dogs"

A council spokesperson said the authority would "continue to operate a stray dog collection service", but "we have made the difficult decision not to accept XL Bully type dogs from vets."

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Five American XL bullies had been collected and handed to Colchester vets as stray dogs in the last month, it said.

"These dogs have been chipped, but the chips are not registered, and we believe that the dogs are not contained strays but are being abandoned at vets by breeders who, due to the recent publicity, have been unable to sell their dogs," the spokesperson added.

"We believe that a member of the public would not approach a stray XL Bully and would be more likely to call the police for fear of their own and others' safety.

"We appreciate the concerns of some vets, and we are working to coordinate an agreed approach to tackle this problem, while also facing our own challenges."

However, the council's policy has been criticised by Mr Cooper, who said the council needed to rethink its approach.

He said: "As things stand, the XL Bully is a perfectly lawful breed of dog, and the council has a statutory duty to collect stray dogs within its area, and if the council isn't doing it, who do they expect will?

"I'm very surprised, but it may just be this is an interim decision and perhaps on due reflection they will reconsider."