XL bully dogs: Why are attacks still happening?

This week, a man was found guilty of owning an XL bully dog that savaged an 84-year-old man on a driveway - an attack that proved fatal when the elderly man died five weeks later.

John McColl had been attacked by a seven-stone dog called Toretto, which had to be shot 10 times by police officers, in Warrington, Cheshire, in February last year. Sean Garner, 31, was convicted on Tuesday and awaits what the judge said would be a "substantial prison sentence".

On the same day, a man was jailed for more than 10 years after his XL bully dog mauled his ex-partner's mother to death. The pet, named Bear, killed Esther Martin, 68, while she was at the home of Ashley Warren, 41, in Essex in February 2024.

It is a criminal offence to own or possess an XL bully dog in England and Wales unless you have a valid Certificate of Exemption and comply with strict conditions. So why do attacks continue to happen and what does the law allow exactly?

The XL bully breed type is a variant of the American Bully breed type and is described as being a large "heavily-muscled" dog with a "blocky head" suggesting "great strength and power for its size" in UK government guidance.

The guidance is used to help identify the dogs based on the physical conformation standard, which is describes as "powerfully built".

It says an adult male measures from 20in (51cm) at the withers (the highest point of the dog's shoulder blades) and an adult female from 19in (48cm).

Since 1 February 2024, it has been a criminal offence to own or possess an XL bully dog in England and Wales unless you have a valid Certificate of Exemption and follow strict rules.

Defra says approximately 57,000 dogs are registered.

There is a ban on breeding them, which the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said should lead to a significant reduction in the number of these dogs over the next decade.

Applications for a Certificate of Exemption to keep an XL bully dog have closed and new exemptions can only be authorised by a court order.

It's also an offence to:

• sell an XL bully dog
• abandon an XL bully dog or let it stray
• give away an XL bully dog
• breed or breed from an XL bully dog
• have an XL bully in public without a lead and muzzle

Police can seize unregistered prohibited dogs, and their owners face up to six months in jail and/or an unlimited fine.

Six months before the fatal attack last year on 84-year-old John McColl in Warrington, a 53-year-old man died after being mauled by an XL bully dog in Lancashire.

David Daintree died in August 2024 after his pet attacked him at his home on Ashley Court, Accrington.

Neighbours said the 53-year-old and another man had been trying to separate two dogs that had been fighting shortly before the attack occurred.

Armed police arrived shortly after the attack and shot the dog, which was considered to still pose a threat.

Meanwhile, in August last year a woman in her 40s had to be treated in hospital for serious injuries after being attacked by an XL bully dog in Fleetwood, Lancashire.

Desperate neighbours, including a man with a machete, intervened to help stop the dog mauling the woman, eyewitnesses said.

Witnesses said a number of people went to help after the dog escaped from a back door and bit the woman, who was believed to be related to its owner.

The dog was severely wounded at the scene on Wingrove Road before being destroyed by Lancashire Police officers.

And in Eccles in June 2024, a woman in was injured in an attack by an XL bully in a Greater Manchester street.

Police said they had received "several reports" that a dog was "dangerously out of control" and attacking people on Gladstone Road.

The dog was "destroyed at the scene" by armed officers after police and members of the public were unable to "regain control" of it.

A government spokesperson says the ban on XL bullies is to protect public safety and all XL bully owners are expected to comply with strict conditions.

"Ongoing dog attacks show we need to do more to protect public safety and we will continue to encourage responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog and ensure communities are protected," they said.

The government said it was continuing to engage closely with the police, local authorities, and rescue and rehoming organisations to monitor the impacts of the XL bully ban.

Animal psychologist Dr Roger Mugford said such attacks were "heart-wrenchingly awful" but "entirely avoidable".

"The people who have allowed this to happen are criminals, and should be punished for such," he said.

"These events don't just happen out of the blue. There are lots of warning signs."

He said he believed legislation should be removed and there should be a concentration "on education and providing positive facilities for people to be good dog owners".

It is illegal to rehome, sell, buy, or transfer ownership of an XL bully dog to another person.

Kellie Graham, from Carla Lane Animals in Need, in Maghull, Merseyside, said current legislation also prevented responsible rehoming of dogs.

"People who have complied with the ban, whose circumstances have changed are seeking assistance that can't be provided anymore," she said.

She said banning certain breeds meant there was an increase in people behaving "cruelly or neglectfully towards dogs", or a belief "that these dogs matter less than others".

"At the heart of all of this is individuals accepting responsibility for the dogs that they bring into their lives.

"Nobody is forced to have a dog. If we choose to have one in our lives we should be sourcing them responsibly, and be keeping them responsibly."

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