23 Oct 2023
A vet with a major care provider has told a parliamentary committee that some owners are already asking for their dogs to be euthanised because of Government plans to outlaw the controversial dog type.
Allister Webb
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Image © Jack / Adobe Stock
A senior vet has warned that plans to ban the XL bully will lead to similar problems, involving a different type of dog, emerging in the future.
David Martin, IVC Evidensia’s group animal welfare advisor, has told MPs that some owners are already requesting their pets are euthanised because of the proposal.
The Government has insisted the measure is necessary to protect the public following a string of serious attacks in recent months.
But, speaking at a parliamentary hearing on 18 October, Dr Martin predicted the move was unlikely to resolve the issues relating to what he described as “status dogs”.
He said: “I am very suspicious a lot of these problems originate from poor ownership.
“I think if we ban one breed, the people who want status dogs will just go and get a different breed, and we’ll be having the same discussions about a different breed, and there is some evidence already that is happening.”
The hearing, which is part of the EFRA select committee’s wider pet welfare and abuse inquiry, took place a month after ministers initially pledged to define and outlaw the XL bully by the end of this year.
Two parliamentary petitions, one for and one against a ban, are expected to be debated in the coming weeks. Conservative MP and vet Neil Hudson, who chaired the session, acknowledged the “passion and heat on both sides” of the argument in his opening remarks.
But he added: “The direction of traffic is that this ban is coming, so a lot of the work this committee will be doing is to look at the evidence to see how this ban can come into force, how it will work and what are the practical implications for that.”
One major concern currently surrounds the capacity of both the veterinary and rescue sectors to meet the demands that a ban is likely to place on them.
Although estimates of the total XL bully population vary substantially, the session was told there are likely to be at least 50,000 dogs affected by the ban – far more than under the equivalent assessments made before the present Dangerous Dogs Act was introduced in 1991.
Sam Gaines, who heads the RSPCA’s companion animals science and policy unit, said her organisation was worried about the potential for a surge in abandonments related to the ban.
Meanwhile, Dr Martin said some possible requirements, such as the neutering of affected dogs, would leave “a hell of a job” for a veterinary profession that is already under significant capacity pressure to do.
He also cautioned that carrying out such procedures may involve higher costs for clients, some of whom are already making significant decisions about their pets as a direct result of the present policy.
He said: “We are already getting clients presenting dogs asking for them to be euthanised because they are concerned about the effects of the ban.”
He also revealed that a recent survey of 200 newly graduated IVC vets found 94% said they would refuse to euthanise a healthy XL bully with no behavioural issues if an owner asked them to do so, and insisted the company would support any of its staff who took that stance.
Although the need for action to prevent further attacks has been widely acknowledged, divisions remain both about the case for a ban and the challenges that defining the breed is likely to present.
The Labour Party has already indicated its support for a ban, while several senior police officers have also called for action over recent months.
Lawrence Newport, a legal academic and co-founder of the Campaign for Evidence-Based Regulation of Dangerous Dogs, said the increase in fatal attacks linked to the XL bully in recent times, together with data from sources such as police incident records, offered an appropriate basis for action. He also argued that the existing breed-based legislation contributed to fatality levels in the UK only being around that of the US, despite a much higher population density here.
He said: “There is good evidence that it functions and it works, but it’s by no means the only thing that we should do.”
But Dr Gaines told the committee: “In my opinion, I don’t think the evidence being used for this policy is sound.”
The session was told the RSPCA, which is also a member of the Dog Control Coalition group that includes the BVA, was invited to join a breed confirmation working group set up by Defra.
But Dr Gaines said the organisation left the group because of its concerns about how the issue was being handled, having urged the department to narrow its focus and ensure any definitions could be applied consistently.
Dr Martin also voiced concerns about a lack of “robust” data on the issue and warned there were already cases where dogs that fell foul of current legislation without showing any signs of behavioural problems subsequently developed issues while being held in police kennels before their case was resolved.
The committee further heard concerns that some of the attacks that have been linked to the XL bully are likely to have been committed by other types of dog.
