Credit: Dlexus, CC BY-SA 4.0

From 5 July 2024, it will remain legal to own an XL Bully type dog, but owners must ensure their dog is muzzled and on a lead when in a public place. Selling, gifting, exchanging, or breeding from an XL Bully type dog will also be prohibited.

Stage two of the new rules will come into operation from 31 December 2024, and will make it an offence to own an XL Bully type dog without having an exemption certificate or having applied for an exemption certificate.

This means where XL Bully type dog owners wish to keep their dog they must apply and pay for an exemption certificate by that date.

However, if any owner of an XL Bully type dog does not choose to adhere to these measures or no longer wishes to keep their dog, provision will be made to surrender that dog and owners will be able to apply for compensation.

Full details of the application process and the conditions for exemption will be announced soon. Although the application process for exemption certificates is not open yet, there are actions owners can take to prepare such as neutering their dog.

Owners of XL Bully type dogs are also advised to appropriately record and account for their dog ahead of new rules coming into force. In Northern Ireland, all dogs must be licensed and microchipped at eight weeks old. It is an offence to own an unlicensed dog, unless the dog is exempted.

The Irish government is currently considering a ban on XL Bully dogs south of the border, where the breed would become the first ever to be banned outright.

Irish rural and community development minister Heather Humphreys said last week: “As somebody from the border region, I don’t think we should be out of step with Northern Ireland on this.”

The Scottish Government was effectively forced to bring in a ban on XL Bully dogs in February after their ban in England and Wales led to significant numbers of the dogs being brought into Scotland.

XL Bully dogs were involved in a fatal attack on Limerick woman Nicole Morey this month, and a brutal attack on nine-year-old Alejandro Mizsan in Wexford a year ago.