XL bully dogs behind 3.5% of the 1,359 NI dogs attacks recorded by councils in 2023/24

Documentation provided to a Stormont committee discussing whether to change the rules around owning XL bully dogs, shows there were 1,359 dog attacks across Northern Ireland in the year 2023/24.

Of those attacks, just 3.5% (48) involved the breed with 25 of those reported in Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council area followed by 10 in Antrim and Newtownabbey and eight in Belfast.

The data provided to the AERA committee by the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs was gathered from NI council areas. Overall it shows Belfast had the most recorded dog attacks at 391, followed by the ABC council area with 215 and and Ards and North Down where 132 dog attacks were reported.

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Out of the total 1,359 dog attacks in the region, 71 were attacks against a person. Some 31 involved a pet and during those attacks, 16 people and 14 other pets were injured.

The AERA committee was asked to sign off on adding XL bully type dogs to the dangerous dogs list for Northern Ireland. It comes after a move in England that saw the breed banned unless such a dog has been registered.

The UUP's Tom Elliott told the committee: "I don't think just the breed issue is the right way to go but we are in a really difficult situation around this... none of us want to be in a position whereby someone would be seriously injured or killed."

Alliance Party MLA John Blair agreed, adding: "I am in a similar position to yourself in relation to this."

The committee agreed it was "content for the department to make the rule" regarding XL bully type dogs. It follows an announcement by DAERA there would be upcoming changes in regards to the breed.

It means "owners of XL Bully Dogs will be required to appropriately record and account for their dog".

A statement on the DAERA website added: "Owners will be required to ensure their dog is muzzled and on a lead in public, and they will also be required to neuter their XL Bully dog. It will also be prohibited to breed, sell, abandon, or give away an XL Bully dog.

"However, if the owner of an XL Bully dog does not choose to adhere to these measures and no longer wishes to keep their dog, provision will be made to surrender that dog."

The UK definition of an XL bully dog, which DAERA has adopted, is a "large dog with a muscular body and blocky head, suggesting great strength and power for its size. Powerfully built individual".

Owners have been urged to prepare for the new safeguards by training their dog to wear a muzzle and plan to meet the new regulations if they plan to keep it.

The breed is one of many that have inflicted injuries in dog attacks in Northern Ireland. In April we reported how a toddler was savaged by a husky-collie mix at an Ardoyne Park while convictions over attacks have involved breeds including Shar Peis, collies, lurchers and American bulldogs to name a few.

Farm animal dog attacks

XL bully dogs aside, Northern Ireland has seen a rise in dog attacks on farm animal with farmers urging people to keep their pets on the leads in the countryside.

In February the Ulster Farmers Union said attacks on livestock in 2023 had doubled compared to the previous two years, leading to the loss and injury of farm animals worth an estimated £147,000.

UFU says it comes as more dog owners are letting their pets off the lead in the countryside when many can't order the pooches back to their side.

Co Armagh farmer George Carvill had 28 lambs killed in a dog attack in December. He said: "It was a terrible experience for me and my 16-year-old son, Frank, who looks after the sheep with me.

"We walked into the field to feed the lambs sugar beet and were shocked to see a dead lamb near the gateway. We thought it was a one-off, but as we walked through the field we saw another dead lamb, and then more and more – 28 in all.

"They had been badly mauled, and it was clear the injuries were the result of a dog attack."

Greg Longstaff, who farms in Co Antrim, has suffered two dog attacks on his flock of sheep causing two deaths and worrying others to the point that their breeding programme was disrupted.

He said: "Even after intervention from the dog warden the dogs weren’t traced – but would have been covered in blood after eating the throat out of an ewe.

"The attacks caused a tremendous amount of disruption and the loss of lambs is going to hit us hard. We run the flock for the joy of keeping sheep rather than as a purely commercial business, and this has taken the pleasure out of it."

David Scott, from Dungannon, was forced to stop keeping sheep after repeated dog attacks claimed the lives of 54 lambs. He says the first attack saw 18 mauled and 15 more drowned after they were chased into a river.

"The injuries caused by the dog in the latest attack were absolutely horrific," he said. "The vet who came out to euthanise the badly-injured lambs said the bite marks were so large it looked like a wolf attack."

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