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Thousands of XL bully dogs have been spared demise after their homeowners utilized for exemptions.
Figures printed by the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra), following a freedom of knowledge request, present that 26,586 exemption functions have been made by homeowners who want to maintain their XL bullies following the ban.
The information comes as police confirmed that the 2 dogs that fatally attacked a grandmother in Essex had been XL bullies.
Esther Martin, 68, was killed at a home in Hillman Avenue, Jaywick, Essex, on Saturday.
She had reportedly tried to interrupt up combating puppies earlier than she was attacked.
(PA)
Of the 26,586, 22,420 functions had been profitable and 4,166 had been denied.
To qualify for an exemption certificates, homeowners should show their XL bully has been neutered by June 30.
If they’ve a pup which is lower than a yr old on Wednesday, they have to be neutered by the top of 2024, and proof that they’ve carried out so have to be supplied.
As nicely as neutering their animals, XL bully homeowners searching for an exemption should pay an utility price, maintain third social gathering public legal responsibility insurance coverage for his or her pets, and make sure the dogs are microchipped.
The complete variety of XL bullies has been estimated by animal teams at between 50,000 and 100,000, the RSPCA has mentioned.
Asked to remark, Defra pointed to figures printed final week that confirmed greater than 35,000 dogs have been registered with full particulars of possession supplied.
In the accompanying assertion, Defra mentioned the ban delivers on the Government’s pledge to “take quick and decisive action to protect the public from devastating dog attacks”.
Since February 1 this yr, it has been a prison offence to personal an XL bully in England and Wales with out an exemption certificates.
Unregistered pets can be taken and homeowners presumably fined and prosecuted.
Seized dogs can be taken to kennels earlier than a court docket decides if they need to both be destroyed or deemed not a hazard to public security.
The ban follows a collection of assaults on folks.
