David Raya training banned XL Bully from guarding him after violent burglaries

PREMIER League goalkeeper David Raya has a banned XL Bully dog ​​to guard him, The Sun can reveal.

The 28-year-old Arsenal boss has vowed to keep Goku as a pet after a series of terrifying attacks on football stars’ homes.

4

4

4

The breed was banned after several attacks, but Raya has an exemption certificate.

An expert said last night: “He is a responsible owner.”

Raya and model girlfriend Tatiana Trouboul, 27, are said to love the mutt, even though new laws are in place banning XL Bullys after a series of attacks.

Goku lives in a secure cage in the couple’s multi-million pound home in North London.

Spaniard Raya has shared photos of himself cuddled up with the eye-catching creature on the sofa.

Tatiana has also been seen taking him for walks.

Raya, who is currently on loan at Brentford-based Gunners, wants the pooch to guard their property after fellow stars suffered a series of violent burglaries.

He has hired experts from Elite Protection Dogs to train Goku.

A company spokesperson said: “David Raya has one XL Bully. His name is Goku, he is one year old. David has had it since he was a puppy.

“Everyone with XL Bullys is concerned. But David is a responsible owner, he wants to be responsible with him.

“We are training Goku under a long-term contract.”

Elite Protection Dogs has 35 years of experience in training dogs, charging up to £20,000.

In 2022, Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was presented with a Belgian Malinois from the company in the same month he secured a prized World Cup winners medal with Argentina.

New laws have been introduced in the past two months following an increase in bullying of XL Bullys, including laws previously considered “gentle and loving.”

On December 31, it became illegal for an XL Bully to go out in public without a leash and muzzle.

Selling, breeding, giving away or abandoning the dogs is also punishable.

And this month it became illegal in Britain to own an XL Bully without an exemption certificate, which Raya owns.

The dogs must be chipped, neutered and kept in a safe place. Owners must also have third party liability insurance.

Meanwhile, dog shelters are seeing a huge increase in surrendering or abandoning XL Bullys.

Fatally attacked

The first reported attack on a person took place in Liverpool in 2017, when a toddler was seriously 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 in 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.

This month, grandmother Esther Martin, 68, became the latest person to be fatally attacked by the breed – days after the ban came into effect.

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, from Jaywick, Essex, said: “If my dogs did that to her, when I had never seen anything but love from them, that breed just has an amazing switch.

“I honestly thought the ban was a stupid government plan to wipe out a breed from which I had never seen anything other than gentleness and love. Now I think they should be exterminated.”

The breed is said to be responsible for 20 percent of dog attacks in 2023.

The Sun approached Raya and Arsenal for comment.

4