A pensioner has been left with serious injuries after being attacked by two ‘XL bully dogs’.
Cheshire Police were called to Bardsley Avenue, Warrington yesterday evening after an 84-year-old man sustained injuries in a dog attack.
A firearms unit was also at the scene and the man was rushed to hospital, the force said.
Officers destroyed two dogs, believed to be XL bully dogs, and seized a third small dog.
Police have said that officers are still at the scene and enquiries are ongoing.
A spokesperson for Cheshire Police said: ‘At around 6.40pm on Monday 24 February police were called to reports of a dog attack at an address on Bardsley Avenue, Warrington.
‘Local officers, supported by the firearms unit, attended the scene and on arrival they found that an 84-year-old man had sustained serious injuries; he has since been taken to Aintree Hospital.
‘Two dogs, believed to be XL bully’s, were destroyed by officers at the scene and a third small dog was also seized.
‘Enquiries to establish the full circumstance surrounding the incident are ongoing and officers remain in attendance at the scene’.
A crackdown on restricting the breeding and sale of XL Bullies came into force on December 31, 2023, following a spate of horrific attacks on the public.
The ban, which came into affect in February last year, made it a criminal offence to own or possess an XL Bully Dog in England and Wales with a valid Certificate of Exemption.
It is also an offence to sell or abandon an XL Bully Dog, or to let it stray. It’s also illegal to have an XL Bully in public without a lead and muzzle.
Owners whose dogs are dangerously out of control are considered to be breaking the law, and penalties including prison time, disqualification from ownership or euthanasia of the dog can be enforced.
Dog attacks have risen by a fifth in one year, with police recording more than 80 incidents a day.
Police forces recorded 30,539 offences of a dog injuring a person or a guide dog last year – up from 25,291 in 2022.
In 2023, there were over 6,000 recorded incidents of dog bites requiring hospital treatment.