Thousands of XL bully dogs have been spared loss of life after their house owners utilized for exemptions.
Figures printed by the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra), following a freedom of data request, present that 26,586 exemption purposes have been made by house owners 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 were XL bullies.
Esther Martin, 68, was killed at a home in Hillman Avenue, Jaywick, Essex, on Saturday.
She had reportedly tried to interrupt up preventing puppies earlier than she was attacked.
Of the 26,586, 22,420 purposes had been profitable and 4,166 had been denied.
To qualify for an exemption certificates, house owners 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 performed so have to be supplied.
As effectively as neutering their animals, XL bully house owners in search of an exemption should pay an utility charge, maintain third celebration public legal responsibility insurance coverage for his or her pets, and make sure the dogs are microchipped.
The whole 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 legal offence to personal an XL bully in England and Wales with out an exemption certificates.
Unregistered pets can be taken and house owners presumably fined and prosecuted.
Seized dogs can be taken to kennels earlier than a courtroom decides if they need to both be destroyed or deemed not a hazard to public security.
The ban follows a sequence of assaults on individuals.