- Thursday, February 27, 2025
The prime minister’s words on the ban in the wake of the death of a 52-year-old man in an attack that reportedly involved two dogs of the same breed.
By: Shubham Ghosh
AMID talks over issues such as free-trade agreement deal with India and detention of Jagtar Singh Johal by the authorities in the south Asian nation’s Punjab state, British prime minister Rishi Sunak on Friday (15) vowed to ban a dangerous dog breed called American XL Bully due to a number of recent attacks involving them.
Sunak’s announcement came in the wake of a horrific incident in Stonnall in Staffordshire where a 52-year-old man named Ian Price died after being attacked by two suspected dogs of the same breed.
It’s clear the American XL Bully dog is a danger to our communities.
I’ve ordered urgent work to define and ban this breed so we can end these violent attacks and keep people safe. pic.twitter.com/Qlxwme2UPQ
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) September 15, 2023
In a video message which was issued on X, the premier shared people’s “horror” over the series of attacks and that he had made an urgent order to define and ban the dog breed. He announced the breed will be banned by the end of the current year and described them as “danger to communities”.
The issue involving the American XL Bully has been in the headlines since an 11-year-old girl suffered serious injuries after a dog of a similar breed attacked it in Birmingham last week.
“The American XL Bully dog is a danger to our communities, particularly our children,” the prime minister said in his message recorded at 10 Downing Street.
“I share the nation’s horror at the recent videos we’ve all seen. Yesterday we saw another suspected XL Bully dog attack, which has tragically led to a fatality. It is clear this is not about a handful of badly trained dogs, it’s a pattern of behaviour and it cannot go on,” he added.
He also pointed out that under current laws, owners already have a responsibility to keep their dogs under control. Yet, he wanted to reassure people that he has taken the problem up seriously and is working urgently on it to put an end to such attacks.
“Today I have tasked ministers to bring together police and experts, to firstly define the breed of dog behind these attacks, with the view to then outlawing it. It is not currently a breed defined in law, so this vital first step must happen fast. We will then ban the breed under the Dangerous Dogs Act and new laws will be in place by the end of the year,” said Sunak.
“These dogs are dangerous, I want to reassure the public that we will take all necessary steps to keep people safe,” he added.
