Scotland to replicate ban on XL bully dogs - Yousaf

American bullies have been involved in a series of attacks

First Minister Humza Yousaf has said the Scottish government will "in essence replicate" UK laws banning XL bully dogs without a licence.

The Scottish government has faced calls to fall in line with restrictions on the breed south of the border.

Amid rising concerns over attacks, the UK government banned the breed in England and Wales.

The Scottish government has accepted there has been an influx of XL bullies to Scotland since the UK's new law.

Mr Yousaf said the UK government's measures were "not a ban" and were announced without consultation with the Scottish government.

As of 31 December, the UK government has banned the breeding, selling or abandonment of the dogs in England.

• XL bully ban in Scotland 'likely by end of month'

• Owners warned not to rehome XL bullies in Scotland

• What is an American XL bully and why are they being banned?

Additional measures will make it a criminal offence to own an XL bully without an exemption certificate in England and Wales from the start of February.

The certificate involves paying a £92.40 application fee and dogs must also be kept on a lead and muzzled in public.

When the issue was raised at First Minister's Questions on Thursday, Mr Yousaf said the measures in England were not an outright ban on XL bullies as owners could still keep them under certain criteria.

He said: "What has become clear, I'm afraid in the last few weeks, is we have seen a flow of XL bully dogs coming to Scotland.

"As such, we will give further details to members of the Scottish Parliament through a parliamentary statement if the parliamentary bureau agrees next week.

"We will, in essence, replicate the legislation that is in England and Wales here in Scotland because ultimately, although we do have a very good system of dog control notice schemes, and we do take the approach indeed not to breed, we have to respond to the situation as it currently stands and therefore we will do what we need to do to ensure public safety."

Humza Yousaf confirmed that Scotland would replicate the new legislation rolled out south of the border

Earlier this week, Scottish community safety minister Siobhian Brown told MSPs the matter was being reviewed "urgently" and said it would be "preferable" if people did not purchase XL bullies.

However, the Scottish Conservatives said she should not "dither and delay" on the issue.

Speaking to journalists after FMQs, Mr Yousaf said the UK government's measures were "not a ban" and were announced without consultation with the Scottish government.

He stressed the importance of carrying out such consultations, saying: "The consultation has taken place in relation to the engagement that Siobhian Brown has had with key stakeholders.

"We can't ignore the fact that over the last few weeks we have seen evidence of that flow of XL bully dogs [to Scotland].

"We'll therefore look to replicate some of those safeguards."

Dumping ground

Mike Flynn, chief superintendent of the Scottish SPCA, told BBC Scotland's Lunchtime Live programme: "Obviously, we're a bit shocked, the sudden nature of the change of direction.

"My understanding is that [the Scottish government] is having to act because of all the media reports of dogs being brought up to Scotland and us being a kind of dumping ground.

"If it is going to go ahead, we would hope to work with the Scottish government to make sure there's a better system in place for people registering their dogs than there has been down in England and Wales, which has been a total farce to be honest with you."

Scottish Conservative MSP Jamie Greene called the announcement a "humiliating U-turn for Humza Yousaf and the SNP government".

He said: "The first minister and his colleagues have wasted months playing political games and causing worry, only to now announce they will, rightly, replicate the UK government's ban anyway.

"Having picked a needless fight with the UK government, the SNP appeared blindsided by these dogs being rehomed in Scotland - when everyone else knew it would be the inevitable consequence of their actions.

"SNP ministers' stubborn refusal to back a sensible UK-wide policy only put lives at risk in Scotland, caused unnecessary confusion and has led to huge repercussions over animal welfare."