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Campaign

End laws marking dogs as dangerous by how they look

For over 32 years, dogs have been judged as 'dangerous' based on how they look due to Breed Specific Legislation. That's thousands of dogs whose behaviour poses no risk to public safety being put to sleep for no reason.

We believe focussing on the type of dog, rather than their individual actions, is a flawed and failing approach. Dog aggression is highly complex, and taking a breed-focused approach is fundamentally flawed.

#EndBSL

On November 2023, the UK Government announced that from the 31st of December 2023 it will be against the law to have an XL Bully in a public place without a lead and muzzle. It will also be a criminal offence to own an XL bully dog in England and Wales without a certificate of exemption from the 31st of January 2024. The XL bully has now joined the growing list of banned breeds which includes the pit bull terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Braziliero all prohibited under the Dangerous Dog Act as illegal types of dog.

We are incredibly disappointed with the decision to add the XL bully to this law. We, along with our partners at the Dog Control Coalition, want to keep everyone safe - but we believe this is not the best way to do so. 

As suspected, the XL bully definition published by the UK Government is incredibly broad and we are extremely concerned about the number of healthy, much-loved dogs that will unnecessarily be swept up in this ban.

The UK government has published guidance to help owners prepare for the ban.

The current laws don't work

BSL fails to protect public safety and hasn’t achieved what it set out to do. Hospital admissions due to dog bites continue to rise year on year and tragic fatalities as a result of dog incidents have continued.

Recent serious and fatal dog bites have caused a media frenzy over dangerous dogs. The law needs to be urgently reviewed and reformed, but adding more dogs to Section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act will only see history repeating itself.

In the past 20 years (1999-2019), the number of hospital admissions for the treatment of dog bites has increased by 154%, despite the prohibition of certain types of dogs.

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Help us make our concerns heard

We are not alone in our concerns. As part of the Dog Control Coalition, we've joined forces with Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, Dogs Trust, Blue Cross, the British Veterinary Association, Hope Rescue, the Scottish SPCA and The Kennel Club to make our voices stronger and louder than ever before. Together, we can demand change for dogs that deserve better.

Email your MP

Let them know that they urgently need to work with the Dog Control Coalition on this issue.