RSPCA calls for judicial review into XL bully dog ban

Owners will have to keep their dogs on leads and muzzled in public

An animal charity is calling for a judicial review into new measures to control XL bully dogs.

The RSPCA in Northamptonshire says the government has introduced the new rules too quickly.

From Sunday, owners will have to keep their dogs on leads and muzzled in public and it will become illegal to breed, sell or abandon them.

A man died after being savaged by an XL bully dog in September and other recent attacks have been recorded.

Ian Price, 52, died after suffering multiple injuries in an attack by two dogs believed to be American bully XLs

Following the fatal attack in Staffordshire, the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to ban XL bully dogs, as they were "a danger to communities".

Legislation was drafted once work had been carried out to define the breed.

Dawn Smith, from RSPCA Northamptonshire, said the drafting and implementation of the ban had been "quite rushed"

Speaking on BBC Radio Northampton, Dawn Smith from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in Northamptonshire, said not enough time had been spent on getting the new law right.

"It has been quite rushed and it is changing all the time," she said.

"We're still hopeful that there'll be a judicial review in mid-January, but that's after the deadline [for the start of the ban] of 31st December."

The new law will come into force in two stages.

From 31 December, it will be illegal to sell, give away or breed from an XL bully dog or have one in public without a lead and muzzle.

From the end of January, it will be a criminal offence to own an XL bully dog in England and Wales without a Certificate of Exemption.

The RSPCA nationally believes banning specific breeds is not the solution to the threat of dog attacks. It wants the law to focus on the actions of individual dogs.

Ms Smith also thinks the new law will be unfair to dogs being looked after by rescue centres and charities.

"Dogs that haven't got owners is what we are concerned about, because they will not have anyone to take responsibility for them, and thousands of dogs will be put to sleep," she said.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "We have taken quick and decisive action to protect the public from dog attacks by adding the XL bully type to the list of dogs prohibited under the Dangerous Dogs Act."