“Here we go again…the next banned breed?”

Monday February 3rd 2025

Nick-McMechan

This View has been written by Midlothian Dog Trainer Nick McMechan.

Early 2023 I wrote an article for Midlothian View “Why the XL Bully shouldn’t be the next banned breed”. At the time I predicted the ban and I predicted it wouldn’t work. The article caught a lot of interest at the time and I appeared on BBC Radio 5’s show with Nicky Campbell, and subsequently further appearances on LBC with Nick Ferrari.

In the UK we are now more than one year on from the ban being in place.

Has it worked?

According to a BBC News report that extracted data from the ONS (Office for National Statistics) there were 19 deaths in 2023 and 7 in 2024. Seven too many and I would argue, clear evidence that the ban hasn’t worked. The irresponsible breeders are still irresponsible.

In 2023 when I wrote the article, I argued the ban wouldn’t work and that we needed licensing. I am still strongly of the opinion that this remains the case and that we should start with breeders, putting checks and balances in place to prevent irresponsible breeding. There is a dog bite epidemic in the UK and without licensing we are simply going to move from one breed to be banned to the next.

Legislating nationally from the top down using the Dangerous Dogs Act will never solve the root cause of the problem, We must solve this to solve the problem. Whilst there will always be people who disobey the law, we can significantly reduce the problem. The funds raised by licensing could be used, for example, to fund more dog wardens to enforce the license conditions. Dog Wardens could then be free to proactively prevent problems rather than dealing with them.

In January 2022 Spain introduced dog licensing that includes conditions for owning ‘dangerous’ breeds, registration, dogs roaming free, microchipping, restrictions on tie left alone, forbidding electric shock collars, marketing of animals, living conditions, etc (not an exhaustive list). Importantly you cannot buy pets over internet and have to complete a course before buying a dog. Spain have gone much further and time will tell the true effects. The UK can learn from other countries and apply best practices here.

The ban isn’t working. As I sadly predicted it looks like the Cane Corso is the next one and the issues are already doing the rounds in the media. The irresponsible XL Bully Owners and Breeders have simply moved on to another breed. And they’ll keep doing it.

The responsible XL Bully and Cane Corso owners will continue to suffer because of them.

It’s a sad situation that will only get worse. Yes, we must legislate, but we must also license. ”

Nick specialises in Loose Leash Walking and Reactivity as well as everything you would expect from a great Dog Trainer. You can find out more here: eskvalleydogtraining.co.uk

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