Just 5% of Britons think XL bullies should be allowed as pets without a licence, with 53% believing they should be totally banned
Ever since a surge in their numbers during the 2020-21 Covid lockdown, American XL bullies have been the cause of a disproportionate number of fatal dog attacks in the UK, including six of the ten such attacks in 2022. In December 2023, they became the first breed of dog added to the Dangerous Dogs Act since it became law in 1991, meaning owners in England and Wales now require a Certificate of Exemption in order to keep their XL bullies.
But some people want the law to go further, calling for a full reintroduction of dog licences. These were required to own a dog in England, Scotland and Wales before 1988, and still exist in Northern Ireland at a cost of £12.50 a year.
Such a policy would have the backing of the British public, a majority of whom (54%) believe you should require a licence to own a dog of any breed as a pet, alongside a further 31% who believe that you should require a licence to own dogs belonging to certain breeds as a pet.
Just 8% of the public think you should not require a licence to own a dog of any breed as a pet.
Even among dog owners, nearly half (45%) say there should be a blanket dog licence, with 38% supporting one for certain breeds.
Younger Britons are substantially less in favour of a blanket licence, with just 22% of 18-24 year olds and 46% of 25-49 year olds believing you should require a licence to own any breed of dog as a pet, compared to 65% to 50-64 year olds and 72% of over 65s.
Instead, the youngest age group is more likely than over 65s to favour the alternatives of both licences for certain breeds of dog (45% and 21%) and no licences at all (15% vs 4%).
What do Britons think about ownership of specific breeds of dog?
Our survey shows that 64% of the public believe that some breeds of dog are inherently more dangerous than others, while just 31% subscribe to the view that all breeds of dog are equally capable of being dangerous.
When it comes to XL bully dogs in particular, just 5% of Britons say it should not be necessary to acquire a licence to own them, while a small majority (53%) believe they should outlawed entirely. Nearly four in ten Britons (38%), and half of dog owners (50%), believe their ownership should be permitted, but only with a licence.
Again, there is an age divide, with 77% of over 65s believing there should be a complete ban on owning XL bullies, compared to 28% of 18-24 year olds. Support for a total ban is also higher among men than women (58% vs 48%).
This is noticeably distinct from attitudes towards other example breeds we polled. While half of Britons (49-51%) believe you should still require a licence to own a labrador or a corgi, 44% of the public feel their ownership should be permitted without a licence, and very few Britons (1-2%) believe they should not be allowed as pets at all.
What kinds of animals do Britons think should require a licence to keep as a pet?
In the eyes of the public, XL bullies are less suitable pets than snakes and tarantulas, which just 30-33% of Britons believe should be outright banned from pet ownership.
But XL bullies are not quite in the category of alligators or big cats, both of which 89% of Britons believe should not be permitted as pets at all. Eight in ten Britons (80%) additionally say that primates should not be able to be owned as pets.
Of course, not all animals may be deemed unsuitable pets because they are dangerous. More than six in ten Britons (62%) believe that hedgehogs should not be allowed as pets, which is unlikely to be down to them posing a threat to humans, with 78% also believing that foxes should be left in the wild.
Alongside the tendency to believe that dogs should require a licence to own, two thirds of Britons (66%) also feel that keeping horses as pets should require a licence, with a majority of Britons (53%) saying the same of snake ownership. Of the animals polled, it is also the most common answer for pigs (43%) and tarantulas (39%), while the public are split 40% to 41% on whether owning a parrot should or should not require a licence.
Nearly eight in ten Britons (77-79%) see requiring a licence for fish or hamsters as unnecessary, with 71% similarly saying you shouldn’t need a licence for a rabbit. Nearly two thirds of Britons (64%) think that owning a cat shouldn’t require a licence, though a third of the public (32%) think it should.
Around half of Britons (49-53%) believe you shouldn’t need a licence to own chickens or tortoises, compared to a third (33-34%) saying you should.
How do you feel about XL bully dogs? What do you think about pet ownership in general, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Photo: Getty
