Rishi Sunak vows to ban dog breed after recent attacks

London [UK], September 15 : United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday vowed to ban the American XL bully dog breed, amid reports of attacks by the animal leading to fatalities.
His remark came after a recent dog attack suspected to be by the same breed led to a fatality.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Sunak said, “It’s clear the American XL Bully dog is a danger to our communities. I’ve ordered urgent work to define and ban this breed so we can end these violent attacks and keep people safe”.
In a video message, the UK PM said that the American XL bully dog is a danger to the communities, especially to the children.
“I share the nation’s horror in the videos we all see. Yesterday, we saw another suspected XL bully dog attack, which has tragically led to a fatality. It’s clear that it’s not about a handful of badly trained dogs. It’s a pattern of behaviour, and it cannot go on. While owners already have a responsibility to keep their dogs in control. I want to reassure people, we are urgently working to stop this attack and protect the public,” Sunak said.
Sunak further said that he has tasked ministers to gather police and experts to define the breed of dogs behind this attack, with the view to then outlawing it.
“It is not currently a breed defined in law, so this fight of the first step must happen. We will then ban the breed under the Dangerous Dogs Act, and new laws will be in place by the end of this year. These dogs are dangerous. I want to reassure the public that we will take all necessary steps to keep people safe,” the UK PM added.