Scottish ministers announce XL bully ‘safeguards’ plan

The Scottish Government has announced more details of its plans to introduce restrictions on XL bully dogs, describing them as “safeguards” rather than a ban.

The measures will replicate the rules currently being implemented in England and Wales, although no timescales for their introduction were given during a parliamentary statement yesterday (18 January).

But community safety minister Siobhain Brown claimed the present situation was “unique” and did not represent a wider shift in dog control policy, adding: “We remain committed to deed and not breed.”

Miss Brown told MSPs the new rules would be introduced in two stages and urged prospective owners to be “mindful” of the impending changes before acquiring an XL bully.

The initial measures will prevent the sale, abandonment, breeding and re-homing of XL bully dogs in line with the rules that are now in place south of the border.

Chance to exempt

Owners will also be given the opportunity to exempt their dogs before it becomes an offence to own a non-exempted animal, as it will in England and Wales from 1 February.

The measures will further include microchipping and neutering requirements, while a compensation scheme to support euthanasia costs will also be put in place.

Miss Brown said the Scottish Government’s thinking on the issue had changed “significantly” because of a lack of clarity from the UK administration on whether owners who brought dogs across the border to evade the ban would be committing an offence.

She also argued that requirements for the dogs to be muzzled and on a lead in public were already provided for under existing rules.

Criticism

But Conservative spokesperson Russell Findlay accused the SNP administration of “dithering” and putting “petty nationalist point scoring above public safety” on the subject.

Meanwhile, Labour’s Richard Leonard described the Scottish Government’s approach to dog control measures as “haphazard, reactive and sluggish”.

However, SNP backbencher Fulton Macgregor said his party had been “backed into a corner” on the issue.

The introduction of restrictions has already been opposed by the Scottish SPCA, who earlier this week called for a range of measures to be introduced to make any rule changes “practicable and enforceable”.

Green Party MSP Maggie Chapman called for a national summit, involving veterinary and welfare groups, to be held on the issue, while SNP backbencher Christine Grahame, who led the introduction of existing dog control legislation in Scotland, described the new measures as “unjust” and urged the introduction of a national microchipping database.