NEW LAW CRIMINALISES LEAVING CHILDREN ALONE WITH BANNED DOGS

A new law affecting owners of five dog breeds takes effect across the UK today, making it a criminal offence to leave a child under 12 unsupervised in close contact with a banned dog at home. Owning one of the banned breeds is prohibited, but owners can apply for a certificate of exemption that allows them to keep the dog. Estimates of how many such dogs live in the UK range from tens of thousands to around 60,000. A dog trainer with 20 years of experience warned that "simply nipping to the loo could mean breaking the law for some dog owners."

The banned breeds are the Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro and XL Bully. Whether a dog counts as a banned type depends on its physical characteristics rather than its breed or name. The XL Bully was added to the list in February 2024, while the other four breeds have been banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. Selling, abandoning, giving away or breeding from a banned dog remains against the law.

Government figures have linked the XL Bully to the deaths of 23 people in the two years before its ban, and fatalities involving the breed continued after the ban took effect. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs recorded more than 57,000 of the dogs on its register by the end of 2024. At that point, they were being destroyed at a rate of more than 100 a month. The UK Parliament website recorded 3,655 Pit Bull Terriers, 20 Dogo Argentino dogs and three Japanese Tosa dogs on the Index of Exempted Dogs in 2021.