6 Mar 2024
The country’s executive has argued it needs to act now, but its plans have been criticised by a leading welfare group.
Allister Webb
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Image © beast01 / Adobe Stock
Plans to introduce new restrictions on XL bully dogs in Northern Ireland have been announced.
The move echoes many of the regulations already in place in England and Wales, though no firm timescales for their implementation have so far been disclosed.
But the proposals have already been criticised by the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (USPCA), which argued they would not address current public safety concerns.
The measures were outlined in a statement by Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs of Northern Ireland minister Andrew Muir to the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont yesterday (5 March).
He said that while numbers were still comparatively low, an increase of more than 50% in the number of XL bully dogs licensed by councils since last October to 140 had been seen, and he could not rule out the possibility of more being moved from other parts of the UK.
Although he stressed that owners alone would determine what happened to their dogs, he said: “It is time to act, while numbers remain manageable and we can – in the main – track where these dogs are.”
The proposed rules will ban breeding from XL bullies along with their sale, abandonment or giving away.
Other measures include requirements for owners to “appropriately record and account for their dog with the relevant authorities”, neuter them and keep them muzzled and on a lead in public.
The chamber also heard mechanisms would be put in place to enable owners to surrender their dog for euthanasia if they choose to do so.
Mr Muir said he hoped to lay the first regulations before the assembly in April or May and have a fully operational scheme in place by the summer.
In a statement responding to the announcement, the USPCA said it was “disappointing and cannot support it”.
The group said it had urged the executive to take “an evidence-based approach” to the issue and argued that stronger enforcement of existing rules on irresponsible owners should be the focus of ministerial efforts.
They added: “We also need to place our focus on better dog breeding practices. Until we properly resource this work, we will never treat the root cause of this. Our top priority is public safety. However, this is not the answer.”
Mr Muir said he was “well aware” of the arguments against breed-specific legislation and urged critics to work with him to help “shape the future”.
He also acknowledged the need for a wider review of current rules that he conceded had fallen behind the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
But he added: “There is no perfect solution to this. I am using what is available to me.”
