Deadline nears for XL bully licensing

Police have issued new guidance and information on the next stages of the XL bully ban that came into effect on December 31.

It is currently an offence to sell, abandon, allow to stray, give away, breed from or have an XL bully in public without a lead and muzzle.

From Thursday, February 1, it will be a criminal offence to own an XL bully, unless the owner has a certificate of exemption.

Owners must apply for a certificate of exemption through the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) online portal before the application process closes at noon on Wednesday, January 31.

If an owner is found to have an XL bully without a certificate, the dog will be seized by police and placed into police kennels until the end of any proceedings, or it will be released temporarily on the interim exemption scheme.

Failure to obtain a certificate before January 31 may result in a criminal conviction, a fine, imprisonment or both and/or costs being awarded against the owner.

The current exemption scheme is an owner-led process – it is the responsibility of an owner to assess their dog.

Guidance can be found on the Defra website to support owners in this and police forces will not examine dogs at this stage.

Certain breeds, such as those recognised by the UK Kennel Club, that may meet some of the characteristics of the XL bully breed type are not covered by the ban.

However, crossbreeds which appear to be more of an XL bully than any other recognised breeds are likely to be included in the ban.

To apply for an exemption, or to find out more the process and new rules, head to the government website at:

gov.uk