Maintaining the XL -Bulleboid ban has put a 'huge burden for the police' and could eventually cost £ 25 million to implement, police chiefs warned.
The National Police Chief Council painted a bleak picture of the ban, which came into force for the first time in England and Wales in February 2024 after a wave of horrible attacks on the public.
The bosses emphasized that kennel spaces 'achieved capacity' and millions of pounds were spent on veterinary accounts, which 'increases by the day'.
The total costs of Kenneling forbidden dog breeds had risen from £ 4 million in 2018 between February and September 2024 to more than £ 11 million – which cost around £ 11,000 a month to hold an XL bullying head in the doghouse.
This figure is expected to increase 'to no less than £ 25 million' for the period from February 2024 to April 2025 – a predicted increase in the political costs by 500% from 2018.
In the past 11 months it has been a criminal offense to possess an XL best head dog in England and Wales without an exemption certificate, which means that not -registered pets will be taken and owners who possibly fined and persecuted.
Similar legislation came into force in Scotland in August.
Other forbidden types of dogs under section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 are the Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Brasileiro.
Bosses emphasized that kennel spaces for XL bullying 'capacity reached' and millions of pounds were spent on veterinary accounts
Chief Constable Mark Hobrough (photo) said that the power 'urgent need' of the government in 'dealing with the enormous requirement that the prohibition has made' on their resources
When the new laws entered, the government estimated that there were around 10,000 XL bullying head dogs in England and Wales. However, this was an important underestimation, with the figure more than 57,000.
Between February and September 2024 alone, officers grabbed 4,586 suspected section 1 forbidden dogs throughout England and Wales.
Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, the leadership of the NPCC for dangerous dogs, said that the power “urgently needed help” of the government in “dealing with the enormous requirement that the ban has made” on their resources.
He said to The Guardian: “We face a number of challenges in kennel capacity, resources and always successive costs, and from today we have not received extra financing to take this into account.”
Although the discussions started with the Ministry of Environment, Food and National Affairs, Mr. Hobough said that no formal agreement or financing had been received to tackle these 'additional question factors'.
The prohibition on the ban has turned out to be more challenging, because working out whether a dog is an XL bullying head, may require specialized training or external expertise, which means that they keep in Kennels for longer.
Before the ban there were 120 dog connection officers in England and Wales.
But the NPCC said that 100 more subsequently were trained and another 40 present to obtain the qualification, which meant 'some areas established dog handlers are called away from other police tasks'.
The NPCC also said that about £ 560,000 had been spent on staff overtime by police services between February and September last year with regard to canines.
Since February it has been a criminal offense to have an XL Bully Dog in England and Wales without an exemption certificate
The prohibition came in the midst of a wave of controversial attacks, including these in September 2023 at CCTV in Birmingham
In November 2024, Farhat Ajaz saved an 11-year-old girl and two men on the street in Birmingham and destroyed two men on the street in November 2024
The horror attack in Birmingham was captured in video images that shocked the nation, so that the then secretary Suella Braverman had to call from home to prohibit the breed
NPCC Tactical Lead Superintendent Patrick O to remark. '
An investigation in December 2024 showed that the police had destroyed more than three dangerous dogs a day since the XL bullying ban came in.
Based on FOI figures from 19 police services in England and Wales, the BBC discovered that 818 dogs were destroyed in the first few months of the ban, more than double than in 2023.
Despite the number of dangerous dogs that was seized and destroyed in 2024, the number of attacks did not show any signs of traps in many areas.
A BBC Freedom of Information request showed that of the 25 police services that responded, 22 said they predict that they will see more reported incidents this year.
Lisa Willis, who was attacked by an XL best head months after the prohibition on December 31 last year was in force, said that the law was 'useless'.
She said that the owners of dogs like those who have drawn her arm are not allowed to buy further animals. The owner of the dog who attacked her replaced his dog 'within a few weeks'.
Remembering her meeting with an XL bullying head in June, Mrs. Willis told the BBC: “I just thought it would kill me,” she said. “It was so powerful, it was literally on my arm and whatever happens, I just couldn't get it out.”
She had contracted with her terrier, Duke, when a French bulldog attacked him. Then an XL bullying head dog rushed from a garden, crossed the road and Mrs. Willis.
Mrs. Willis said that her arm was 'fragmented' and even asked her rescuers to call her husband to say 'farewell' because she thought she would bleed to death.
