The daughter of an elderly woman killed by an XL Bully is pleading for tougher laws after a spike in attacks across the country. Gail Jones, 65, whose mum Shirley, 83, was killed by an XL Bully in December 2022, said that unless tougher sentences for illegal dog breeders were brought in her mum would have “died in vain.” New figures show that as many as 87 people a day are being attacked by dogs in Britain.
The shocking figures, based on stats from Police forces across the country, show an alarming spike in the number of dog attacks on people across the nation.According to the stats, which were compiled by the BBC, there were 31,920 attacks in 2024 meaning divided by 366 days (in 2024) there were an average of 87 offences recorded per day of a person being injured in a dog attack during last year despite a ban on the feared XL Bully being brought in last February.
The ban made it illegal to own the dangerous dog without a Certificate of Exemption and also prohibits breeding, selling, abandoning, or allowing the dogs to stray. And yet the dog attacks continue with recent figures showing cases have gone up in every part of England and Wales with incidents doubling since 2019 in five areas.
Last night Gail, who campaigned for ban on XL Bullies after her mum died, said she thinks illegal breeders have just moved onto other breeds in order to make easy money.
She said: “All that will happen is the breeders will just turn to other breeds because people want these type of nasty dogs for things like protection, there is a market for them whether people like it or not.
“So what I think needs to happen is that anybody found to be found to be breeding a dangerous dog, be it through artificial insemination or by taking them abroad to breed with an illegal dog, should face a jail sentence because they are potentially creating lethal weapons.
“These things are killing machines in the wrong hands and the breeders should be sent straight to jail. That would deter a lot of people from thinking they could make a fast buck be going into this type of illegal breeding.
“Until that happens I feel my mother died in vain.” Beloved gran Shirley died after an unprovoked attack by an XL Bully crossbreed dog.
The retired nurse had dementia and was being cared for by a family member who was minding the dog for friends, after they had made reassurances that the dog was safe. But when Ms Patrick sat down in her favourite chair with a cup of tea on December 3, 2022 the dog lunged towards her in her Caerphilly home.
She died in hospital 17 days after suffering life-threatening injuries in the attack from the dog, a large black XL bully cross cane corso breed called Bagheera. Four people were initially arrested in connection with Shirley’s death but no charges have been brought because the dog had no previous record of violence.
Ms Patrick’s family previously said they have been left “disgusted” that no-one has been held accountable for the attack. Tragically she died less than half a mile away from schoolboy Jack Lis, 10, who was killed by an XL Bully almost exactly a year before.
Jack was attacked by a bully XL dog named Beast in Caerphilly, south Wales, in November 2021. Brandon Hayden and Amy Salter were jailed after admitting being in charge of the out-of-control dog.
The largest increase in the number of dog attacks was recorded by Cleveland Police, where they went up by 163 per cent between 2019 and 2024. Other police force areas where reported offences doubled over the same time period were Lancashire, Warwickshire, Lincolnshire and Devon and Cornwall.
The statistics, which were obtained by the BBC via Freedom of Information requests, showed that dog attacks have been on the increase in every area over the last few years. That is despite new rules over the sale and ownership of American XL Bully dogs.
Since 1 February 2024 it has been a criminal offence to own an XL bully without an exemption certificate. Separate figures show that a total of 31 people have been killed in dog attacks since 2022, with most of these incidents involving XL bullies.
The highest number of dog attacks recorded in 2024 was in the Metropolitan Police area, which was 2,747, an increase of 65 per cent on 2019. However, when population is taken into account, the London area had the lowest rate of dog attacks of any police force area in England and Wales.
Across the country, the average rate of dog attacks was 52 per 100,000 population, and in the Metropolitan Police area, the rate was just over 30 per 100,000 people.
The highest rate was in Gwent, south Wales, where there were 90 dog attacks per 100,000 population last year although not the highest number of attacks. But it is not just humans that are being attacked, other dogs are also falling victim to out of control dogs.
Giles Lewis, 43, from Newport in Gwent, nearly lost his Pomeranian-Japanese Spitz cross Yuki when it was savaged “like a little toy” by a loose lurcher-type dog in February. Despite horrific injuries Yuki was saved but not before vets bills totalling nearly £20,000.
Giles told The Mirror: “What is very clear to everyone I talk to about this issue is that dog attacks and out of control dog incidents are on the rise in the UK. It’s an epidemic which is spiralling out of control, exacerbated by the mass of irresponsible dog buying in the pandemic.
“The culture of dog ownership has changed. Increasing numbers of people now own dogs they are ill equipped to raise, train or control them. The onus needs to shift onto the dog owners to raise, train, control and care for their dogs appropriately, or not have them.
“In my view there needs to be extremely weighty punishments for this that will have a real impact on people who flout the laws in place to keep our communities safe.”
Newport West & Islwyn MP Ruth Jones says the police understanding of dog attacks are inconsistent and incomplete. She said: “These awful numbers confirm something too many families in Gwent know from experience — the old approach to dog control is broken.
“It’s not enough to ban certain breeds and pat ourselves on the back. We need to enforce and encourage responsible ownership of all dogs and, where necessary, ensure authorities have the powers to effectively intervene. We need consistently robust sanctions for offenders. We need to pay more attention to the person at the end of the lead and take action before, not after, another tragedy strikes.
“I have already asked the UK Government about reviewing the Dangerous Dogs Act — a 34-year-old piece of legislation that was supposed to prevent attacks and has so obviously failed. I will keep working with charities like the Dogs Trust to push for a change in the right direction as it’s about time we turned this dog control debate into action.”
Gwent police have taken dog violence very seriously in recent years and has set up The LEAD (Local Environmental Awareness on Dogs) initiative in the area which focuses on promoting responsible dog ownership, addressing issues related to dog behavior, and ensuring public safety and dog welfare.
They point out that just because they may have the highest rate of attacks per 100,000 of the population this should not be confused with Gwent having the highest number in total of reported offences or the highest number of dangerous dogs as one dog for example could be responsible for multiple reported offences.
But Chief Superintendent Jason White told The Mirror: “We have seen a rise in the number of reports for the offence of dogs acting out of control causing injury and Gwent is no exception to this national increase in reported offences.
“But with that rise in reports comes an increased awareness of attacks involving dogs and their impact in our communities, meaning more people are confident in reporting these offences to us and trusting us to take decisive actions, such as seizing dogs, when necessary.
“Our officers take a proactive stance on dealing with dogs involved in any kind of attack, but we also want to promote, through the LEAD initiative, to all our communities that responsible dog ownership is vital in keeping the public safe from harm.”
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