Legal challenge to XL bully ban dismissed
The judge decided that the government's decision to ban the breed had been lawful.
A legal challenge to the restrictions on XL bully dogs in England and Wales has lost in the High Court.
The group Don't Ban Me Licence Me had sought a judicial review of the decision by the Department for Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to add XL bully dogs to the list of breeds banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
The campaign group argued that the ban on the breed was unlawful. Among its challenges were that the government had failed to take into account relevant material, had relied on wrong or baseless assumptions, and had failed to comply with equality legislation.
Mrs Justice Lang dismissed the majority of the legal challenge. Although she did allow that the government had failed to comply with public sector equality rules in assessments it made in September and October 2023, Mrs Justice Lang ruled that the outcome would very likely not have been different.
In her judgement, Mrs Justice Lang said of the decision made by then secretary of state Thérèse Coffey: “In my view, it was rational for the Defendant to assess and act upon the available evidence on dog attacks and fatalities. It was not necessary for her to interrogate each reported case of a dog attack or fatality for verification.
“It was not necessary for her to delay the decision until an official definition of the XL bully was prepared. The basic characteristics of an XL bully were already well known before the Defendant published the Conformation Standard.”
The legal decision has been met with disappointment from the RSPCA.
Dr Samantha Gaines, RSPCA lead on dog control, said: “While we’re bitterly disappointed with this outcome, we commend the Don’t Ban Me Licence Me group for all of their hard work and for taking a stand to speak out for XL bullies and their owners.
“We will continue to call for this approach to dog control to be reviewed and replaced. To make a real difference to public safety and properly protect dog welfare, we need a complex approach which is backed by robust evidence.”
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The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
