Criminal Underworld Using XL Bully Dogs as Status Symbols, MPs Told

Two XL bully dogs during a protest against the government's decision to add XL bully dogs to the list of prohibited breeds under the Dangerous Dogs Act following a spate of recent attacks, in England on Sept. 30, 2023. PA Media

A dog breed proposed to be banned in the UK is being used in the criminal underworld “like weapons,” MPs have been told.

In a what was described as an “emergency urgent session” before a Commons committee, leading veterinary care group chief Dr. David Martin said criminals are using XL bully dogs as “status” symbols, and believe they are less likely to be stopped by police by owning one.

The group head of animal welfare for IVC Evidensia also revealed that people are already handing over their bully dogs to vets and other rescue services ahead of the proposed ban, with some requesting that their pet be put down.

Speaking at the parliamentary evidence session before the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Select Committee, Dr. Martin said the problem was not with the breed, but those on “other end of the lead.”

Asked about the XL bully temperament and whether the dogs are being bred and used in deadly dogfighting, Dr. Martin said: “As probably one of the very few vets who’s involved giving expert evidence on dogfighting XL’s themselves are not being used in organised dogfighting.

“The organised dogfighting community is still using pitbulls.

“They, the XLs, in my experience, are being kept for a different purpose in the sort of criminal fraternity.

“They are being used as status dogs, not as dogfighting dogs, and they are two very different groups of criminality and the dogfighters are a very niche little group who are very close knit, and very difficult to investigate because they are so close knit.”

Fashionable

Dr. Martin said the wider criminal underworld wanted the breed as they are “an aggressive looking dog.”

He added: “And it may be an aggressive dog, or it may just look like an aggressive dog, but you don’t want to tackle it.

“And I think in many ways of speaking to a number of the people involved in this sort of thing, they believe that they are less likely to be bothered by the police than if they were carrying weapons. And they consider the dog to be a weapon, effectively.”

He said the breed then became “fashionable,” much like labradoodles and cockapoos with celebrities and social media stars influencing the public.

He added: “There are a lot of the members of the public who have very nice, very well managed, very well bred and brought up, XL bullys.

“But there is this group of status dogs that are a problem.”

Speaking about the public fear around the ban, Dr. Martin said he was already getting clients presenting dogs “asking for them to be euthanised because they’re concerned about the effects of a ban.”

He said that in many cases, people were concerned about how owning a prohibited dog may affect a housing contract or tenancy agreement.

“There is a risk these dogs will be dropped off or abandoned outside veterinary practices,” he said.

The veterinary expert said a number of vets would be uncomfortable destroying healthy animals at the request of their owners.

“We are allowed to refuse to euthanise a healthy animal under our code of conduct and as a business, we support all our vets who refuse to euthanise a healthy animal. So I think we’re going to have significant problems,” he said.

Neglect

Dr. Martin was part of a panel of experts giving evidence to the committee on Wednesday, who were told there are an estimated 50,000 of the dogs in the UK at present.

The proposed ban on the XL bully—which is not classified as a breed but a type—has been pushed by a number of serious attacks in the UK.

The RSPCA, which opposes the ban, said it is “hugely concerned” that evidence being used to support the breed ban is “lacking in depth, in authority, in objectivity” and quality.

Samantha Gaines, head of the RSPCA’s companion animal science and policy, also raised concerns about the emotional impact the culling of the dog breed would have on animal care staff if the breed is outlawed.

“If we end up in a situation where we have to assess and take dogs and then euthanise them, that is going to come at a huge cost to the emotional wellbeing of our staff, and we do expect to lose staff over this.”

The RSPCA opposes the ban, she said, saying that other changes in policy could be implemented by the government to address the problem.

Last month, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the breed would be banned by the end of the year after a spate of serious attacks involving XL bully dogs.

Although no exact details of how the ban would be put in place, there have been suggestions for an amnesty period.

Lawrence Newport from the Campaign for Evidence-Based Regulation of Dangerous Dogs warned that any amnesty period would increase the likelihood of “severe attacks, including hospitalisations and deaths” from the dogs.

Experts also said a number of the attacks reported in the media in recent months had been carried out by dogs in private homes, or those that had escaped from private gardens. Some of them were also found not to be XL bully type dogs.

“An amnesty period does provide an administrative and practical means [of introducing a ban] but there is still a cost to that period, and that is the cost of people and other dogs.

“That shouldn’t be minimised or forgotten in this,” he told the committee.

Ms. Gaines also said that banning the breed could have negative consequences including heightening incidents of abuse and neglect.

She said: “So if we label particular dogs as dangerous by law, for example, then there is evidence that shows that does make them more attractive to certain parts of society, and I’m including a criminal element to that as well.

“I think what is also very true is that actually, where we have dogs that are treated as commodities that are exploited, that pretty much always goes hand in hand with them themselves becoming victims of abuse and neglect.”