From 1st of October, it will no longer be legal to breed, buy or import XL bully-type dogs. However, in an unexpected turn of events, the prohibition for rehoming these dogs, which was due to begin next week, has been delayed until February 1st. Consequently, this allows pounds and dog shelters additional time, until February 1st, to find homes for the XL bully dogs they currently care for. If the rehoming ban had proceeded as planned next Tuesday, shelters would have been compelled to put down the dogs as they could no longer foster or rehome them.
The decision to delay the rehoming ban was taken by the Department of Rural and Community Development, the government department enforcing the ban. The decision followed consultations with animal welfare charities and shelters. These organisations will also be permitted to send XL bully dogs overseas until the stated date.
Dog welfare charities have been lobbying the government since the Minister in charge, Heather Humphreys, revealed the impending ban in July. This was instigated due to a series of notable attacks by these dogs. In particular, the tragic fatalities, such as 23-year-old Nicole Morey from Limerick city who was killed by her own pet. In addition, a 10-year-old boy in Wexford and a one-year-old girl in Co Kerry were severely injured in separate incidents. Furthermore, just last week an XL bully dog was put down after assaulting its owner in Dublin, who subsequently required hospital treatment.
While acknowledging the controversy surrounding the ban in her announcement yesterday, Minister Humphreys stressed the importance of public safety. She expressed her worry that the frequency of these dog attacks could increase if no action was taken to control the amount of these dogs in the country.
Merely an hour following an official governmental declaration of a stay of execution, 22 XL bully dogs were dispatched from Ireland to Sweden on Thursday, prior to the impending prohibition.
A warm welcome for this stay of execution was extended by Brenda Fitzpatrick of the Working Animal Guardians (Wag) rescue, who voiced her appreciation for the government’s ability to take their input into account.
She conveyed how the prohibition’s announcement last July had left a multitude of dog shelter owners sinking into depression and anxiety, faced with the knowledge that, come 1st October, they’d be compelled to euthanise healthy dogs. Nevertheless, Fitzpatrick raised concerns over the four-month timeframe possibly not being sufficient to assure that each XL bully dog currently housed in pounds and animal shelters would find a new home, although there is hope for a portion of them. She argued for the removal of the term “rehoming” from regulations to facilitate enough time for every homeless XL bully dog to find a new dwelling.
She underscored the urgency of establishing a nationwide training and socialisation module for potential dog owners, along with restrictions on discreet breeding practices, which had become highly profitable during the Covid-19 lockdown period.
Many XL bully dogs, now tabbed for elimination, were bred throughout the Covid-19 contagion, leading to them being abandoned thereafter, she added.
While there is no prohibition on XL bully dogs in Sweden, Fredrik Kärrholm, a Swedish Member of Parliament, is intending to present a bill in the legislative assembly to outlaw this breed. Commenting on the news of the XL bully dogs being transported to Sweden, he warned that these dogs were being sent to unsuspecting Swedes, and it wouldn’t be long before children in Sweden faced dire consequences at the hands of the breed.