Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

SNP accused of ‘political games’ over XL Bully ban as owners seek sanctuary in Aberdeen

The lack of a Scottish Government timetable for a crackdown led to owners of the breed sending their dogs north from England.

The lack of a Scottish Government timetable for a crackdown led to owners of the breed sending their dogs north from England.

The SNP government has been accused of playing “political games” after failing to adopt a ban on XL Bully dogs which has come into force in England and Wales.

From February 1, it will become a criminal offence to own an XL Bully type dog without an exemption certificate south of the border.

A ban on breeding and selling the breed is already in force there.

Owners who do not successfully obtain an exemption certificate will be forced to have their pet euthanised or risk committing an offence.

But the Scottish Government has so far refused to adopt a similar timetable for the ban introduced by the Conservative government.

XL Bully owners seek sanctuary in north

The loophole led to owners of the breed to seek sanctuary in Scotland.

One Keith woman has already shuttled XL bullies in a horse box from England to Aberdeen, Inverness and Forres and Peterhead.

North East MSP Maurice Golden said the Holyrood government should recognise the “urgency” of the situation.

He said: “The suspicion is the SNP has failed to introduce a ban for no other reason than it wants to be different to the UK.

“But this is a serious matter and can’t be subjected to political games.

The dogs are controversial after a number of serious attacks. Image: Shutterstock

“The UK Government’s measures are useful in the short term, but the situation also requires longer-term measures put in place around responsible dog ownership.

“Either way, the Scottish Government needs to accept the urgency of this situation and make a swift decision.”

Asked about the English ban, a Scottish Government spokesman said: “Any change to the rules on XL Bully dogs must be evidenced-based and we are carefully considering the evidence so we can make the right decision for Scotland, with public safety paramount.

Strict control in Scotland

“Scotland already has a strict dog control notice regime applying to any type of dog, which is unique in the UK and focussed on preventing dog attacks from happening in the first place.

“In addition, licences are required for those who, subject to certain criteria, breed dogs, operate animal rescue centres or are involved in rehoming animals.

“The UK Government controls on XL Bully dogs in England and Wales occurred without any notice to the Scottish Government and Ministers expect the UK Government to act responsibly and ensure there is no impact on Scotland of this decision to impose this decision without notice.”


Read more about the Bully ban law:

Conversation