Data says thousands of banned dogs living in British homes with owners

Government data says there are more than 3,000 banned dogs living in homes in England, Scotland and Wales.

Following a Freedom of Information request, the BBC obtained data from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) which showed 3,499 banned dogs are registered with 3,316 of them in England.

Most of the dogs are pit bull terriers, with 149 banned dogs in Wales and 13 in Scotland.

Currently in the UK, according to Defra, there are four dog breeds that are on the Dangerous Dogs Act banned list, including the pit bull terrier, the Japanese tosa, the dogo argentino and the fila brasileiro.

These dog breeds can be taken from owners unless they are placed on the index of exempt dogs which is obtained if the court believes the dog is not a danger to the public.

Last month, after a string of attacks, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said American XL bullies dogs would added to the Dangerous Dogs Act list by the end of the year, calling the breed a “danger to our communities”.

Earlier this month, a woman was injured after she was attacked by her own American XL bully in Norfolk.

Last month, Ian Price, a 52-year-old man from Staffordshire, died in hospital after being attacked by two American XL bullies.

In November last year, Jack Lis, 10, was killed by a American XL bully while at a friend’s house in South Wales. The owners of the dog, Amy Salter and Brandon Haydon, were jailed as a result of the attack.

The Environment Secretary said this week that the UK Government is “pretty close” to bringing forward the proposed ban on the breed.

Therese Coffey said she thought a “good definition” of the dog type had been agreed, with only a “few other things” such as compensation needing to be signed-off.

Ms Coffey said the UK Government estimated there were about 10,000 American XL bullies in the UK while the Blue Cross animal charity suggested it was more like 15,000.