Children under the age of 12 will be banned from being left alone with dangerous dogs including XL Bullies under new rules due to be announced later today.
Owners who leave children unsupervised with banned breeds could face prosecution and even have their dog seized.
The new restrictions will come into force on November 1 and will become part of the legal conditions for keeping an exempt dog. The changes are designed to prevent children being attacked but to also allow responsible owners to keep their pets, The Sun reports.
View 2 ImagesXL Bullies were banned in 2024 but owners can still keep existing dogs if they hold an exemption certificate.(Image: Getty Images)
Animal Welfare Minister Baroness Hayman said: “No child should ever be left alone with a dangerous dog.These rules are about putting safety of children first.”
Article continues below
A Statutory Instrument bringing in the change is due to be laid before Parliament today. It comes after dog attacks have nearly doubled since the pandemic with more than three occurring an hour on our streets and in our homes.
In 2025 alone, new data obtained by the Mirror reveals, at least 29,400 out-of-control dog attacks causing injury offences were recorded by police, equivalent to 81 a day, or 3.4 every hour. The massive number is a significant five percent increase on the already high number of attacks recorded in 2024 – the year violent XL Bully dogs were banned – when police logged 28,000 attacks. Pre-Covid just over 16,000 were recorded.
The fresh numbers show attacks have almost doubled since the pandemic began, painting a grim picture of a booming trend that has left people dead, disfigured, and permanently disabled.