Enforcing a ban on XL bully dogs is placing a huge burden on policing with millions of pounds spent on veterinary bills and kennelling, police chiefs have said.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said kennel spaces were reaching capacity, with costs “increasing by the day”.
It said veterinary bills and the cost of kennelling banned dog breeds had risen from £4m in 2018 to more than £11m between February and September 2024. It can cost about £1,000 a month to keep an XL bully in kennels.
The policing body said the figure was expected “to rise to as much as £25m” for the period from February 2024 to April 2025 – representing a predicted 500% increase in police costs from 2018.
Since February 2024, it has been a criminal offence to own an XL bully dog in England and Wales without an exemption certificate, meaning unregistered pets will be taken and owners possibly fined and prosecuted. Similar legislation came into effect in Scotland in August.
As well as the XL bully, other banned types of dog under section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 include the pit bull terrier, Japanese tosa, dogo Argentino and fila Brasileiro.
Mark Hobrough, the NPCC’s lead for dangerous dogs, said the ban was placing a huge burden on policing.
Hobrough, the chief constable of Gwent police, said: “We are facing a number of challenges in kennel capacity, resourcing and ever-mounting costs, and as of today we have not received any additional funding to account for this. We urgently need the government to support us in coping with the huge demand the ban has placed on our ever-stretched resources.”
Hobrough said conversations were ongoing with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs but there was no formal agreement “whereby any funding has come into any police force to account for these additional demand factors”.
Police forces seized 4,586 suspected section 1 banned dogs throughout England and Wales between February and September 2024.
There were 120 dog liaison officers across England and Wales before the ban, with 100 subsequently trained, and a further 40 to be trained, according to the NPCC.
Hobrough said this meant “in some areas established dog handlers have been called away from other policing duties”.
The NPCC said about £560,000 had been spent by police forces on staff overtime between February and September last year in relation to canines.
The NPCC tactical lead, Supt Patrick O’Hara, said he did not think all XL bullies were automatically dangerous but they had the “propensity” to be by their “sheer size and power”.
O’Hara said: “In the right hands, with the right socialisation, with a really responsible owner, a lot of those dogs will never come to notice.”
A government spokesperson said: “The ban on XL bullies is an important measure to protect public safety, and we expect all XL bully owners to comply with the strict conditions.
“We continue to work with the police, local authorities and animal welfare groups to prevent dog attacks by encouraging responsible dog ownership across all breeds of dog, addressing dog control issues before they escalate and using the full force of the law where needed.”
