The sickening XL Bully bloodbath that proves ban has failed… as fatal dog attacks RISE in 2024 despite crackdown
IT was a scene to send shivers down the spine of any parent.
Wrestling with the jaws of a rampaging XL Bully, a mother desperately battled to free her eight-month-old baby girl as the hound “picked her up like a rag doll and shook her”.
The terrifying incident, which saw the tot airlifted to hospital in Kent earlier this month, came just weeks after 10-year-old Savannah Bentham was savaged to death by a dog of the same breed in her family’s caravan in Malton, North Yorkshire.
These little girls are two of the latest dog attack victims of 2024 – with the death toll now even higher than 2023, despite the wide-reaching XL Bully ban rolled out at the start of the year.
On February 1, it became illegal to own an American Bully XL dog in England and Wales without a certificate of exemption. They must be kept on a lead and muzzled in public places and it’s illegal to breed or sell them.
The ban was brought in after a number of high-profile cases in which people were killed by the breed – including that of Ian Price, who died trying to protect his elderly mother from two crazed XLs who had escaped from a neighbour’s window in Staffordshire.
However, despite the crackdown, a total of 10 people have been killed by out-of-control dogs since February in horrific and bloody attacks across the UK – five of those by XL Bullies.
The tally is an unexpected and worrying rise from 2023, which saw nine people lose their lives from dog attacks, with three of them concerning the controversial breed.
Today, grieving families, experts and XL Bully attack victims tell The Sun that the ban has been an absolute failure and urge the Government to do more to stop the devastating attacks.
Much-loved grandma Esther Martin, 68, was killed in a savage attack by two XL Bullies in front of her traumatised grandson in Jaywick, Essex on February 9 – just days after the ban was rolled out.
Her grandson’s father – wannabe rapper Ashley Warren, who owned the two dogs named Beauty and Bear and their six puppies – was arrested on suspicion of dangerous dog offences and is awaiting trial.
Esther’s daughters, Sonia Martin and Kelly Fretwell, who cannot talk about their mum’s case until the court case is concluded, say they do not think the XL Bully ban has worked.
“Sadly we don’t think anything has changed since our mum’s death,” they tell The Sun.
“We have heard of attacks by XL Bullies on people and other dogs regularly.
“Not all attacks get reported in the media, we just see people posting about them in Facebook groups and community groups.
“No single agency seems to be collecting the statistics on attacks. We’ve reached out to Defra and the police and no one seems to have any up to date figures nor total figures for attacks since the law was implemented.
“We still see people walking around with these dogs without muzzles. It appears that no one is checking that the dogs are registered until an attack has happened – by then it’s too late.
“Who is checking if owners move or if the dogs are passed around to different owners? We don’t think the laws are being enforced.
“To be honest, we think a different solution is needed, maybe a training programme and behaviour checks on these dogs, so that the law is proactive in identifying dogs that are a danger to humans.”
Defra said it did not keep statistics on dog attacks as they were kept by local agencies such as the police and the NHS.
Worrying rise
The Sun sent Freedom of Information requests to 16 of the biggest police forces in England and Wales to ask for statistics on reports of dog attacks in 2024 compared to 2023.
So far, only West Yorkshire Police has responded with figures.
They recorded 987 reports of out-of-control dogs injuring people from January to October 2024, compared to 949 from the same period last year.
They did not have available stats for the types of dogs involved in each attack.
Other police forces said it was either too time-consuming to collate and provide the figures, or they planned to release them at a later date.
Meanwhile, victims who have survived vicious attacks by the dogs also don’t believe anything has changed since former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the ban last September.
One teenager mauled by a 50kg XL Bully in a vicious attack where she believed she was going to die tells The Sun she doesn’t support the ban.
Gilana Milner, 19, was working in an animal rescue centre when an XL Bully named Hugo lunged at her while she was changing his water bowl.
The huge dog dragged her to the floor, mauling her chest and leg, and staff had to fight him off when he refused to unclamp his jaws.
I just kept thinking about my mum. I knew I was going to die and I didn’t want to
Gilana Milner, dog attack survivor
Terrified Gilana, who was just 18 at the time of the incident, thought she was going to die in the attack back in May.
Gilana, a day care worker, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, said: “They go for the big arteries in your legs.
“When they’ve got you down they go for your neck.
“I just kept thinking about my mum. I knew I was going to die and I didn’t want to.”
Despite being left with scarring, nerve damage and needing therapy to overcome the trauma, Gilana does not agree with the ban on the breed.
Gilana said: “I’m doing OK physically, mentally it’s still distressing and I’m currently having therapy.
“But I don’t agree with the ban, it’s not fair to put the dogs to sleep.
“It’s more on the owners, there should be more in place.
“If you don’t know the dog, you could underestimate how powerful they are.
“People see a big cuddly dog and don’t realise that it could end very differently.”
‘Owners to blame’
Another victim, Sophie Dollimore, 22, who was also attacked by what she believes was a banned XL Bully, is calling for harsher punishments for the owners of dangerous dogs.
Sophie was walking her dog – a Staffy named Brandy – at around 9.40pm on July 3 in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, when an out-of-control dog bit her on the leg.
Sophie, who is now too scared to leave her home because of the attack, told The Sun: “I thought I wasn’t scared of dogs, but I am now.
“It’s not the dog’s fault at all, they’re just doing what they’re trained to do.
“I blame the owners, it’s bad training.
“I don’t agree with the ban but think owners should be screened before being able to own an XL Bully.
“You need to be physically strong enough to handle them.
“The power behind the dog was shocking, I didn’t expect to be knocked to the ground like that.
“I’m too scared to leave the house now, I’m paranoid that I’ll get bitten again.
“The ban doesn’t work at all because people are still getting hurt.
“There is no enforcement of the ban, there’s not point having it because no one listens and people still are being attacked.”
In relation to Sophie’s case, Hertfordshire Police said: “A 53-year-old man from Hatfield was arrested in August on suspicion of being the owner/person in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury.
“He was questioned and released on police bail while enquiries continue.”
‘Worst offender’ dogs
James McNally, known as the “dog bite lawyer”, works to obtain compensation for victims of dog attacks and says he has seen no reduction in the number of cases since the ban came into place.
James, who gave evidence to the Defra committee on the XL Bully ban last November, told The Sun: “It’s been pretty much exactly the same [as last year] – we haven’t seen any decrease in dog attacks since the ban and we didn’t expect to.
“Interestingly we didn’t have a single inquiry regarding an XL Bully attack in 2023.
“The ‘worst offender’ dogs are the same as they have always been. German Shepherds, Staffies, those kind of dogs – they have always been the top of the list of dogs causing the most bites and injuries. That has not changed.
“Even when the XL Bully ‘scare’ was at its worst, it was still the other dogs responsible for the most attacks.
“All dogs can bite. You get the wrong dog on the wrong day, it will bite you. That might be because the dog is aggressive, or ill, or because the dog is reacting to a situation and the person hasn’t read the warning signs.
“The problem is the bigger the dog, the more severe that bite is.”
Dog attack fatalities in 2024
There has been a total of 10 people killed this year in the UK in dog attacks. Five of them were killed by XL bullies.
Esther Martin, 68, was mauled by two XL bullies as she tried to protect her grandson in Jaywick, Essex in February.
Angeline Mahal, in her 50s, was killed in her own home by her two pet XL Bullies in Horncurch, East London in May.
Elle Doherty, seven months old, was attacked and killed by her family’s pet Belgian Malinois in Coventry in June.
Kelly Reilly, 33, was killed by her pet Bull Mastiff while she was having a seizure in her home in Coventry in July.
Michelle Hempstead, 34, a mum-of-five was killed by her pet Bull Mastiff in Southend, Essex, in July
Nicholas Glass, 32, was killed by four dogs including two XL bullies at a relative’s house in Birmingham in August.
David Daintree, 53, was killed by an XL bully in Accrington, Lancashire, in August.
Savannah Bentham, 10, was killed by her family XL Bully inside their caravan in Malton, North Yorkshire in November.
Michelle McLeod, 41, was killed by her pet American Bulldog, which police said was registered, at her home in Aberdeen in December.
Akif Mustaq was savaged to death by a banned Pitbull Terrier as he walked outside a block of flats in Stratford, London in December.
James says the Government’s XL Bully ban was a “cheap and easy fix” which has done nothing to reduce the overall number of people being attacked by dogs.
He says deliver drivers and joggers are the most likely to be victim of a dog attack – and the four most common dogs his company deals with claims against are German Shepherds, Border Collies, Staffordshire Bull terriers and Rottweilers.
“We probably have about 400 live cases and of those only one XL Bully. When we’ve counted up before it’s been something like 73 different breeds and 82 cross breeds,” he said.
“So it’s pretty much all dogs, that’s the thing and that’s when why the XL Bully ban came in no one really explored what the issue was behind the spike in dog attack fatalities.
“There were no studies into why this had happened…. it was a very simple fix for the Government at the time because all they had to do was add that name to the banned list and they didn’t really have to do much else.
The fact we’re still seeing fatalities and attacks shows it hasn’t really solved the issue, it was just a quick fix
James McNally, dog bite lawyer
“It completely ignored the fact that we are seeing a rise in dog attacks generally.
“It was an easy and cheap fix which didn’t address the problems – which is often dog owners.
“Many just don’t realise that their dog could bite, so I think there is a generally lack of awareness from an awful lot of dog owners as to what they should be doing.
“They may well see themselves as the most responsible dog owner in the world, but if you’re walking the dog with the view it’s never going to hurt anyone then you are mistaken.
“The fact we’re still seeing fatalities and attacks shows it hasn’t really solved the issue, it was just a quick fix by a government which wanted to score some brownie points.”
Simple steps
James believes that dog owners can take simple steps to lessen the risks posed by their pets, but many don’t because they think their dog would never bite.
“Our relationship with dogs is that they are seen as family members and that’s why people are so trusting and they leave children with dogs and put them in situations they shouldn’t be in because of that,” he said.
“They think their dog will never hurt anyone. Even as little as putting a letter box cage on their door so the dog can’t bite anyone making a delivery or making sure their dog is secure when the Amazon guy is coming – those are things that could massively reduce injuries.
“We’ve also seen an increase in people being attacked in public places and I think that it’s people walking their dogs while looking at mobile phones.
“They are completely distracted and aren’t keeping an eye on their dogs.”