Cheshire East councillor questions euthanising of 27 Cheshire XL bullies in past year

By Belinda Ryan - Local Democracy Reporter 24th Jul 2024

Twenty-seven XL bullies have been euthanised in Cheshire despite police saying there have been no attacks involving those types of dog in the county in the past 12 months.

The information was revealed during a meeting of the county's police and crime panel.

Cheshire East councillor Judy Snowball (Lab), who is a lawyer, asked for more information about why this had happened.

She was referring to a response from Cheshire Police which stated there have been no XL bully attacks in Cheshire in the past 12 months.

A Cheshire Police car. (Image - Macclesfield Nub News)

The statement also said, to date, police had seized 75 of the dogs and finalised 22 prosecution cases within the courts with a further 14 cases being progressed to court.

It added that 27 XL bullies have been euthanised.

Cllr Snowball said: "I'm interested in why they've been euthanised on the basis of that.

"If there have been no attacks in Cheshire, I would be interested in the law behind this.

"I can see prosecutions where the law has been broken in a certificate of exemption not being obtained or renewed, or the rules for the exemption not being adhered to,… but in those cases that would be the individual who owned the dog being taken to court.

Macclesfield Broken Cross and Upton Councillor Judy Snowball, Labour.

"I'm interested to know why the actual dogs have been euthanised in this."

Police & Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, Dan Price. (Photo: PCC for Cheshire)

Police commissioner Dan Price said he would get a detailed answer from the force, but added it was possible it could be voluntary – that owners had asked for their dogs to be euthanised.

Panel member Gemma Shepherd-Etchells said she had also come across this explanation in some cases.

Cllr Snowball asked for more information about this, adding: "Clearly this is a difficult law."

She said a number of organisations, including the RSPCA, believe it is poor legislation.

The discussion had been prompted by a pre-submitted question to the police from Halton councillor Martha Lloyd Jones (Lab), who had noted that data showed that Burtonwood, Widnes and Runcorn have 512 registered XL bully dogs, which is one of the highest densities in the UK.

In England and Wales it is a criminal offence to own or possess an XL bully without a valid certificate of exemption.

It is also an offence to sell an XL bully, abandon an XL bully or let it stray, give one away, breed from one or have an XL bully in public without a lead and muzzle.