Owner fears losing dog amid XL Bully insurance cut

The owner of an XL Bully breed type dog fears for the life of her 19-month-old American Bulldog if she is unable to renew her insurance.

In November, Jersey's politicians approved tighter dog laws with new measures including dangerous dogs needing third party public liability insurance, which must be approved by the States Veterinary Officer.

The only insurer available for Jersey XL Bully type dogs, Dogs Trust UK, is cancelling its third party insurance from July due to increased claims on its policy causing rising costs.

Nina Morgan said she was frustrated and furious because "I know what it means if we can't fulfil that... it means destruction and seizure and it's just not right."

The government said it was looking at alternative insurers for the about 15 XL Bully type dogs in the island.

An XL bully is the largest kind of American bully dog, described as large "with a muscular body and blocky head, suggesting great strength and power".

Dogs Trust UK said thousands of owners signed up to its Companion Club insurance scheme when the UK banned the breed in 2024, which increased its costs "significantly".

It said: "As a charity, we can no longer afford to offer this benefit and have had to make the very difficult decision to remove third-party public liability insurance from Companion Club from 1 July 2026.

"We are disappointed to be in this situation, and it's a decision we have not taken lightly."

Morgan said the UK had "done nothing" to help with third party insurance for dangerous dogs in the two years since its ban in 2024 and it was "very unlikely" Jersey's government were not aware of the insurance issue too when it brought in its law changes.

She said she felt owners were "being set up".

"It's very unlikely that nobody knew about it, that it was gonna happen, which means that when legislation is brought forward, somebody knew that down the line we were going to be unable to comply with the law."

The dog owner said she had considered setting up her own insurance company in order to save Frankie, who she described as "extremely friendly".

She said: "I actually looked into setting up my own insurance company, it could be done because there's different levels.

"The lowest one which is very quick to set up, and our government could quite easily do, is to simply buy insurance from a hub of insurance companies that insurance providers can buy insurance from.

"They could do that and it would be sorted in a couple of weeks but nothing's been done."

Constable Mike Jackson, head of the Constables Committee which put forward the approved amendments, said "the last thing" he would want was a dog to be put down for lack of insurance and that the States Vet was "looking at the alternatives" alongside DEFRA and the UK.

He said: "Clearly there needs to be insurance because these dogs are dangerous so they may be looking to other providers to see how that can be covered off.

"I think everything is insurable but at a price, so that's where the work's being done at the moment."

At the beginning of April, a man in Essex was jailed for 10 years and three months after his XL bully dog mauled his ex-partner's mother to death.

On the same day, a different man was found guilty of owning an XL bully dog that savaged an 84-year-old man on a driveway in Cheshire.

When the previous UK government announced the XL bully ban for England and Wales, it said the breed had been "disproportionately involved" in deaths recorded since 2021. In several cases, XL bullies are known to have killed their owners and children.

Morgan said no dog was "inherently bred to be aggressive", which made it unfair to label her American Bulldog as such. She said it was down to owners to train their dogs properly.

Jackson agreed it was down to the owners to train their pets but said "certain dangerous dog breeds" had natural instincts they acted on such as holding onto things with their teeth.

He said: "That's the risk and we have to take advice which has come not only from the UK but other countries too, it's an international issue so we are just really aligning ourselves with that."

Jackson added that when islanders bought a new dog they should "think carefully if they've got the ability to manage it".

He said: "Sometimes a large dog in a small flat or house is just not appropriate, the dogs do need exercise and very often they find themselves having to be exercised in public places, which is fine, but other people will be in public places too, so it's a question of everybody having respect for each other."

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