Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss says breed will have to be neutered and muzzled when out in public – but questions remain
Owners of American XL bully dogs will not face a cull of their pets, the UK’s top vet has said, after the Prime Minister pledged to ban the breed.
Campaign groups have hailed the promise to ban the dogs by the end of the year after a series of attacks prompted calls to put the breed on the Dangerous Dogs Act list.
But questions remain about how exactly a ban will be implemented and enforced, with concerns about the challenge of defining the dog breed given its cross-bred nature.
Chief Veterinary Officer Professor Christine Middlemiss said that coming to a “consensus” on that definition would be one of the first things officials would do.