Dangerous XL Bully dogs selling for £25 online as ban on dangerous pets looms in just weeks
DANGEROUS XL Bully dogs are selling for £25 online as a ban on the dangerous pets looms in just weeks.
Hundreds of owners are frantically trying to sell their XL Bully pets after ministers confirmed a crackdown coming in next month.
A Sun Online investigation found more than 700 for sale on one website this week – with some of the dogs being traded for just £25.
Many new adverts have been posted in the past 24 hours following a new Government announcement on the ban’s timeline, which follows a series of gruesome mauling attacks.
We found one 14-month-old XL Bully put up for sale by an owner in Swansea in Wales for just £25.
The online ad suggested the dog would “walk with a harness but needs more training”.
It added: “He is around five stone so needs someone used to a large dog – he is just too heavy for us to walk and needs someone who can exercise him daily.”
Another young dog put up for sale today by an owner based near Brentwood in Essex was priced at £75.
She told potential buyers: “When I got him his skin wasn’t great and he wasn’t vaccinated or microchipped.
“I’ve done all those things now. He’s probably the best guard I’ve had – he’s really sharp and he’s also protective when out walking.”
Another dog, aged just over ten months, was also on sale for £75 – advertised by a seller in Bournemouth in Dorset.
They wrote: “Unfortunately, due to his owner now receiving end-of-life care, Stash needs to be rehomed before the new legislation comes into effect.
“He is such a loveable gorgeous boy who loves people.”
The ad added that the dog had “not been among children yet”, having “not reacted to them or to other dogs”.
The ad was captioned: “Good home and sensible owner needed.”
Two XL Bullys, a male and a female, both 16 months old, were put on sale last week by an owner in London for £100.
The seller posted about them: “Have been fostered for a month but need a forever home. Taken from silly breeders.”
Another ad from an owner in Leeds, West Yorkshire, suggested she was at risk of being made homeless because of her six-month-old XL Bully, valued at £150.
She described the dog as “still available”, telling browsers: “I’m at risk of being kicked out if I can’t find her a loving home.
“Due to no fault of her own. Six-month-old loving female XL Bully. Sad sale due to living in a high-rise flat.”
‘VERY ENERGETIC’ XL BULLY ON OFFER
And another £150 XL Bully, this one male, was made available in Norwich in Norfolk.
The owner wrote: “He is good with other dogs. He is also very energetic.
“Due to both me and my partner working full-time we haven’t got the time for him as much as we wish we did.”
The Sun previously reported on bully-type dogs being advertised for sale online in the UK, permitting anyone to buy without checks.
Concerns were raised after a spate of maulings which prompted Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to announce ban plans in September.
The timeline for new measures came yesterday from environment secretary Thérèse Coffey.
Anyone defying the new rules faces up to 14 years behind bars, while offenders could also be disqualified from ownership or have their dangerous dogs euthanised.
New rules put before Parliament criminalises breeding, selling, advertising, rehoming, abandoning or allowing an XL Bully dog to stray.
They can be legally advertised for sale for now, but not from December 31 onwards.
Existing XL Bullies are being offered an amnesty, but must be muzzled and on a lead in public from that date too.
Recent XL Bully attacks include one in Birmingham in the West Midlands which left 11-year-old schoolgirl Ana Paun fearing for her life when savaged.
Ian Price died after an attack by two dogs – suspected to be American bully XLs – in Stonnall, Staffordshire, in September.
Tributes were paid to 52-year-old Mr Price, who reportedly had been trying to protect his mum.
Elsewhere, parents of Denis Jano, three, told how he suffered terrible injuries to his face and scalp after an XL Bully attack in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, in April this year.
And the family of 12-year-old Mohid Gardazee feared he was dead after being mauled last month by a suspected XL Bully in Oldham, Greater Manchester.
Three children were hurt just weeks apart by an out-of-control XL Bully named Zeus in Forfar, Scotland – before its owners sold the pet to a new home.
Jonathan Hogg, a dad aged 37, was mauled to death by an American bully XL in May this year in Leigh, Greater Manchester.
That same month 28-year-old Natasha Johnson was killed by dogs while walking a pack – said to include her own American bully XL – in Caterham, Surrey.
An inquest heard in April that Ian Symes, 34, died in Fareham in Hampshire with “catastrophic” neck injuries when mauled by a 52kg XL Bully dog bought on Snapchat.
And mum Katie Deere told in September of sacrificing her own arm to save her daughter from an XL bully in Askern in South Yorkshire.
Some 22,000 dog attacks causing injuries were recorded last year in England and Wales, up by more than a third since 16,000 in 2018.