The UK government tells us that from February 1, 2024 it will be a criminal offence to own an XL bully dog in England and Wales unless your dog has a valid certificate of exemption.
Also, from 31 December 2023, it will be against the law to have an XL bully dog in public without a lead and muzzle. It will also be illegal to breed, give away, abandon or sell an XL bully dog from that date.
Current owners of XL bully dogs can apply for a Certificate of Exemption for their dog or dogs on the UK government’s website. There is a £92.40 p fee (at November 13th 2023), which accompanies the application and there has to be third-party public liability insurance. This applies also to any other of the banned breeds of dog under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
I’m told that you will need to apply for an exemption by 31 January 2024. As I understand it, an application for exemption can be made today on the UK government website (see link below).
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You can use the online service for up to 3 dogs in one go. If you have five dogs you can apply for three in one go and then apply again for the remaining two. You can also apply for a Certificate of Exemption by email or post. And you can use the government’s PDF form to apply for up to 30 dogs.
You can email the government’s Government Animal Welfare Team help with this service at the following email address: dogsindex@defra.gov.uk.
Please click this link to apply for a Certificate of Exemption to keep an XL bully dog. The link takes you to the UK government’s application form webpages. Please note that things often change on the Internet and this link may at one stage in the future become broken. I can’t control that and if it has happened, I apologise.
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