Home secretary Suella Braverman calls for ban on ‘lethal’ dog breed after attack on young girl

Suella Braverman is pushing for a ban on American bully XL dogs following an ‘appalling’ attack on an 11-year-old girl at the weekend.

The Home Secretary says the breed present a ‘clear and lethal danger’, particularly to children, and has commissioned urgent advice on outlawing the dogs.

The news comes following a series of recent dog attacks in Merseyside, which has one of the highest rates of hospital admissions from dog bite injuries in the country.

• On Tuesday, September 5, a young boy was taken to hospital after being bitten on the face by a Huntaway Cross Breed dog in a ‘terrifying’ attack in Birkenhead.
• On Saturday, September 3, a three-year-old girl had to be rushed to hospital after being attacked by a Pit Bull Terrier - now an illegal breed in the UK - outside a pub in Kirkby town centre.
• In August, 40-year-old Marie Stevens was attacked by two Rottweiler dogs and died a few weeks later.
• In July, a seven-year-old girl suffered multiple injuries after being mauled by an American bully XL in Wallasey and had to be taken to hospital.
• In 2022, there were two fatal dog attacks in Merseyside, including 56-year-old Ann Dunn, who was mauled to death at a property containing five American bulldogs.

Ms Braverman has seized on the news of the attack on a girl in Birmingham to push for a ban, saying: “This is appalling. The American XL Bully is a clear and lethal danger to our communities, particularly to children. We can’t go on like this. I have commissioned urgent advice on banning them."

However, adding dogs to the banned list is the responsibility of Environment Secretary Therese Coffey’s department, where the there are reported concerns over the feasibility of adding the American Bully. The dog is not a recognised as a specific breed by the Kennel Club and it could be hard to define. A ban could inadvertently outlaw a range of other dogs.

It is against the law to own, breed or sell dogs on the list drawn up by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and there are currently four listed: pit bull terrier, Japanese tosa, dogo Argentino and fila Brasileiro. It is also against the law to have a dog that is dangerously out of control, which can be punished by prison sentences and unlimited fines.

Animal charities including the RSPCA have been pushing for an end to breed-specific bans which they say work against dogs perceived to be ‘dangerous’ and lead to thousands of ‘innocent’ animals being put down. Instead they want to focus on individual actions and dangerous owners.

Dog attacks in Merseyside

Dog bites have become such a big problem in our region that Merseyside Police launched their ‘Taking the Lead’ campaign last month in an attempt to reduce the amount of incidents, through guidance and advice.

Research from the University of Liverpool shows that across the country the greatest number of hospital admissions for dog bites is in Merseyside. With three of the five boroughs in the top ten local authorities in the country.

Historic figures show that between 1998 and 2018 around 5% of all national hospital admissions for dog bites occurred in Merseyside.

During that period, Knowsley had the most incidents per population, across 333 local authorities in England. St Helens was the fifth highest for hospitalisation rates, Liverpool was sixth, Sefton was 30th and Wirral came in at 106th.