XL bully rule details unveiled by Scottish government

The Scottish government has said it will replicate the safeguards on XL bully dogs introduced by Westminster – but the date when the regulations will come into force is yet to be set.

First Minister Humza Yousaf confirmed earlier this month that Holyrood would mirror UK government legislation, which makes it a criminal offence to own an unlicensed XL bully dog without an exemption certificate.

The new rules were recently implemented in England and Wales following a spate of attacks in which people died or were injured by the breed.

In a statement to the Scottish parliament on Thursday, community safety minister Siobhan Brown said the decision to replicate the rules had not been “taken lightly” and was a “direct result” of the fallout caused by the regulations south of the border.

She said: “As the first minister set out last week, the UK government failed to act to stop dog owners in England and Wales evade the new controls by bringing their dogs to Scotland.

“That changed the balance of whether we needed to act here in Scotland.”

Ms Brown stressed that the new rules – subject to approval by the Scottish parliament – would be “safeguards rather than a ban”.

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The XL bully rules in Scotland

First stage (date yet to be announced):
• The dogs must be kept on a lead and muzzled when out in public.
• Selling, breeding, abandoning or giving the dogs away will become illegal.

Second stage (date yet to be announced):
• Owners will have to apply and pay a fee, yet to be confirmed, for their dog to be added to the exemption index. The dog will also have to be microchipped and neutered.

Compensation will be payable to owners who no longer wish to keep their pet, including reimbursement for euthanasia.

Ms Brown said: “Dog owners in Scotland should therefore start to consider what they may wish to do with their XL bully dogs.

“And given what the Scottish government has announced, I would suggest it would be sensible for any prospective owners of XL bully dogs to seriously bear in mind the need to adhere to the new safeguards, if they are minded to acquire an XL bully dog where they currently do not own one.”

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The minister added that Scotland was in a “unique position” in comparison to the rest of the UK.

The Control of Dogs (Scotland) Act 2010 enables local authorities to serve dog control notices to deal with “out of control” dogs at an early stage.

Ms Brown stated: “While the focus today is on XL bully dogs, any dog has the propensity to become ‘out of control’ or even dangerous if not trained properly, socialised properly, and not kept under proper control at all times in all places.”

Ms Brown added that the situation with XL bully dogs was “unique”, however the Scottish government remains “unequivocally committed to ‘deed not breed’.”

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In an interview with Sky News on Wednesday, Mr Yousaf was questioned on why Scotland had failed to enforce the rules at the same time as the rest of the UK.

The first minister claimed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak introduced the regulations “without any consultation” with the Scottish government, animal welfare charities and rehoming centres.

Mr Yousaf said: “We took some time to consult. We have a very strong regime here of dog controls.”

He said action was taken following reports of XL bully dogs being moved to Scotland from south of the border.

Mr Yousaf said: “I still maintain the best approach is the ‘deed not breed’ approach, but we also have to respond to the fact that we’re seeing XL bullies come across the border.”

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