Bedfordshire has been named among the many high 5 areas for will increase in canine assaults, because the variety of assaults in England shot up by 22 per cent prior to now two years.
Research by ITV has come after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to ban the XL Bully breed by the top of the yr after the variety of assaults involving the breed spiked. The transfer follows a year-long marketing campaign by the Mirror asking the Government to cease the plague of lethal canine assaults.
ITV News submitted Freedom of Information requests to all police forces within the UK. 23 forces responded, with 11,373 canine assaults reported by these forces between July 2021 and June 2022.
From July 2022 to June 2023, there have been 13,940 assaults reported. The areas with the best rises have been Gloucestershire at 62 per cent, Cambridgeshire at 52 per cent, Lancashire at 47 per cent, Bedfordshire at 40 per cent and Nottinghamshire at 31 per cent, The Mirror reported.
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But the realm hit essentially the most was the West Midlands with a complete of 1,244 assaults from July 2022 to June 2023. It was a canine attack in Birmingham that lastly pressured the Government to behave.
Video footage confirmed a lady aged 11 and two males being attacked by a crossbreed Bully XL-Staffordshire Bull Terrier puppy in Bordesley Green, Birmingham. Ana Paun was pulled to the ground after the canine broke free from its collar close to a row of retailers on September 9.
A 20-year-old man tried to assist her however the canine chased him to a close-by petrol station and attacked him on the bottom. Other areas hit laborious by assaults in 2022/23 are West Yorks (1,025), Merseyside (1,183), Kent (1,135) and Greater Manchester (829).
The variety of dogs detained below the Dangerous Dogs Act has additionally gone up by greater than 50 per cent since July 2021. ITV mentioned this contains banned breeds and dogs dangerously uncontrolled. Meanwhile, the variety of dogs destroyed below the Act in England since July 2021 is up by 30 per cent.
A vet mentioned the American XL Bully inhabitants has grown “exponentially” prior to now three years. David Martin, group head of Animal Welfare at My Family Vets, mentioned: “The dog population generally really grew during Covid. Since then the breed that has remained high in popularity and has grown in numbers is the American Bully.”
Despite protests by XL Bully homeowners, he mentioned “the vast majority” of aggressive assaults are attributable to their breeding and possession. He added: “It’s not an issue purely associated to the American Bully, however that’s the breed that’s at the moment trendy.”
The Mirror has been calling for change with the assistance of Emma Whitfied, from Caerphilly, whose 10-year-old son Jack Lis was killed by an XL Bully two years in the past. Our three calls for have been supported by Labour’s Wayne David MP, victims of canine assaults and the Dog Control Coalition.
1. Overhauling the Dangerous Dogs Act. An pressing assessment of the legislation is required and harder penalties ought to be thought-about.
2. Enforcement of the principles to cease the unlawful and irresponsible breeding and promoting of dogs.
3 A public info marketing campaign to advertise the significance of accountable canine possession and the necessity for coaching.
