United Kingdom Home Secretary Suella Braverman is pushing to ban families from owning American bully XL dogs after an 11-year-old girl suffered what she called an “appalling” attack by one of the dogs.
When discussing her call to ban the dog breed, Braverman wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that they present a “clear and lethal danger” to the public, particularly to children.
“This is appalling. The American XL Bully is a clear and lethal danger to our communities, particularly to children,” Braverman said in a post on X. “We can’t go on like this. I have commissioned urgent advice on banning them.”
Despite Braverman’s push for the ban, the decision of whether or not the dog breed is added to the banned list is not up to the Environment Secretary Therese Coffey’s department, according to LiverpoolWorld.
In the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs there are concerns about banning the American bully, one of which is that it is not recognized as a specific breed by the Kennel Club, making it hard to define. This means a ban could potentially result in other dogs unintentionally being banned.
The only four dogs on the UK’s band list are the pit bull terrier, Japanese tosa, dogo Argentino, and fila Brasileiro.
It is against the law to own, sell, or breed any of the dawgs on the Defra list.
The UK’s banned dog site says that if a person is caught with a prohibited breed, “Your dog will also be destroyed.”
A spokesperson for the department shared with The Guardian that dog attacks are taken “very seriously.” When an attack is reported, the department makes sure the full force of the law is applied.
“This can range from lower-level community protection notices – which require dog owners to take appropriate action to address behavior – to more serious offenses under the Dangerous Dogs Act, where people can be put in prison for up to 14 years, be disqualified from ownership or result in dangerous dogs being euthanized,” a spokesperson shared.
Those against the potential ban include the animal charity RSPCA, which advocates against all specific breed bans.
The charity says bans only result in thousands of “innocent” animals being put down because their breed is seen as “dangerous.”
The RSPCA is instead calling for action to be taken against dangerous owners.
Still, Braverman stands by her call for the dog breed to be banned, telling The Sun that “They are terrorizing our communities and pose a particular threat to children. It must end.”