Campaigners have failed in their legal bid to overturn the ban on the XL bully breed in England and Wales.
The group Don’t Ban Me, Licence Me had been granted the right to a judicial review of the ban, which took effect in February 2024, after arguing that the ban was unlawful and would only affect responsible dog owners.
In a judgement, Mrs Justice Beverley Lang dismissed most of the legal challenge, saying there was “sufficient evidence of an alarmingly high level of fatal attacks” by XL bullies or XL bully crossbreeds. She maintained that issues including defining the right types of dog and the human impacts of euthanasia had been properly considered by Defra.
She said: “In my view, it was rational for the defendant to assess and act upon the available evidence on dog attacks and fatalities”, adding that it wasn’t necessary to delay the imposition of the ban until an official definition of the breed was prepared.
Lang also said she had been shown data for 11 deaths between January 2020 and September 2023 at the hearing. She explained: “Suffice it to say that, even excluding those cases where there was legitimate doubt as to whether an XL bully was involved, there was sufficient evidence of an alarmingly high level of fatal attacks by XL bullies or XL bullies crossbreeds to justify the defendant’s concerns.”
The campaigners did succeed on one point of their challenge, with the judge finding the government failed to comply with public sector equality rules in its assessments in September and October 2023. However, Lang ruled that there was no further action needed as a “comprehensive and lawful” quality assessment had taken place in May.
The RSPCA issued a response to the findings.
Dr Samantha Gaines, RSPCA lead on dog control, said: “The Judge has found that although the UK Government did breach their duty under the Equality Act, the decision to ban the XL bully was not unlawful and the ban will not be over-turned.
“While we’re bitterly disappointed with this outcome, we commend the Don’t Ban Me, Licence Me group for all of their hard work and for taking a stand to speak out for XL bullies and their owners.
“We will continue to call for this approach to dog control to be reviewed and replaced. To make a real difference to public safety and properly protect dog welfare, we need a complex approach which is backed by robust evidence.”
