Nearly 40 THOUSAND XL Bully dogs are still in Britain despite ban – four times more than previously thought
NEARLY 40 thousand XL Bully dogs are still in Britain despite the ban.
At least 38,000 XL Bully dogs have been given the nod to remain with their owners – four times more than Government chiefs thought even existed.
Documents obtained by The Sun from the Department for Food and Rural Affairs, which administrates the banned breeds register, showed 38,424 of the vicious mutts were successfully registered by the February 1 deadline.
But experts fear there are far too few dog-trained cops to deal with the hounds, as Whitehall officials previously believed just 10,000 XLs were even in the UK.
Survivors last night said that despite new restrictions attacks would continue as cops still can’t handle the cross-bred, born-killer canines.
Elizabeth Pettugani, 58, who required emergency surgery after a pal’s XL “turned in an instant”, told The Sun: “Attacks will absolutely keep happening.
“Police don’t have the powers to deal with these dogs.
“They don’t have enough resources or the correctly-trained officers.”
It comes after we revealed Arsenal keeper David Raya was among footie aces buying up XLs as personal protection hounds.
The ace, 28, has vowed to keep pet Goku following a string of terrifying raids on the homes of football stars.
The breed was outlawed after several attacks, but Raya has an exemption certificate.
An expert said last night: “He’s a responsible owner.”
Raya and model girlfriend Tatiana Trouboul, 27, are said to adore the mutt, even though new laws are in place outlawing XL Bullys after a string of attacks.
Goku lives in a secure cage at the couple’s multimillion-pound home in North London.
Fatally attacked
The first reported attack on a person was in Liverpool in 2017, when a toddler was severely injured by four dogs.
Their owner, Andrew McGowan, was subsequently jailed.
In 2021, ten-year-old Jack Lis was killed by an XL Bully in Caerphilly, South Wales, while visiting a friend, after which two people were put behind bars.
A month later Adam Watts was killed by an XL Bully at his dog shelter in Kirkton of Auchterhouse, Scotland.
A further eight people were killed by the dogs in 2022 and 2023, including 54-year-old father-of-one Ian Langley, near Sunderland, in October last year.
Dangerous Dogs Act explained
After eleven horrific attacks in 1991, Home Secretary Kenneth Baker promised “to rid the country of the menace of these fighting dogs” by introducing the Dangerous Dogs Act.
The law is often considered controversial as it focuses on a dog’s breed or looks instead of an individual dog’s behaviour, and fails to stem the rise of dog attacks.
According to the RSPCA, over a third of the people killed by dogs since the act was brought in were attacked by legal breeds.
This month grandmother Esther Martin, 68, was the latest person to be fatally attacked by the breed – days after the ban came into force.
She was killed by two XL Bullys owned by her son-in-law Ashley Warren, 39, who begged for the breed to be banned.
Warren, of Jaywick, Essex, said: “If my dogs did that to her, when I had never seen anything but love from them, then that breed just has a killer switch.
“I honestly thought the ban was a stupid government plan to wipe out a breed which I had never seen anything but softness and love from. Now I think they need to be wiped out.”
The breed was said to be responsible for 20 per cent of dog attacks in 2023.
The Sun has contacted Department for Food and Rural Affairs for comment.
Fatal XL Bully attacks
Ian “Scouse” Langley, 54, was protecting his puppy when the animal pounced on him outside a home in Sunderland in October 2023.
Ian Price, 52, was viciously savaged in September 2023 by the beasts as he tried to protect his elderly mum from them after they escaped.
Jonathan Hogg, 37, was killed in May 2023 entered the dog’s pen when it went for him, leaving bite wounds on his arm, leg and head.
Natasha Johnston, 28, was mauled to death while walking a pack of dogs in January 2023 was believed to have been killed by her own pet – an American Bully XL.
Shirley Patrick, 83, died 17 days after being mauled in a “hellish”, violent dog attack in December 2022.
Ian Symes, 34, who was known to friends as “Wiggy”, died at a recreation ground in Fareham, Hampshire, after the savage attack in August 2022.
Joanne Robinson, 43, was fatally mauled by pet Rocco at her home in Rotherham, South Yorkshire in July 2022.
Keven Jones, 62, went into cardiac arrest after being bitten by Cookie-Doe at Chanel Fong’s home in Wrexham, North Wales in May 2022.
Bella-Rae Birch, one, was mauled to death in March 2022 at her home by the American Bully XL.
Jack Lis, 10, was killed by a hulking XL Bully dog named Beast in November 2021 as he played at friend’s home in Caerphilly.