A ‘devastated’ dog owner has hit out at police who put down his XL Bully by mistake and later boiled it down to an ‘admin error’.
Owner, Connor, claims he waiting to pay for a Certificate of Exemption for his beloved XL Bully Bruno, when Lancashire Police unexpectedly seized the dog in August.
The Government brought in a ban on the muscular canines after they were blamed for maulings which led to at least 11 deaths since 2021, meaning UK owners were required by law to have a certificate from February 1.
Connor said he completed the application and was waiting for a response, when the police force took the dog for a reported ‘assessment’ where the owner received glowing reports of Bruno’s ‘calm’ demeanour.
But he waited for his pet, who he referred to as ‘his little child’, Connor was delivered a crushing blow when the force informed him his canine had been mistakenly euthanized.
In an interview with Sky News, he said there had been no prior incident in relation to his XL Bully.
‘He was brilliant and then I just got informed that the police have got to take Bruno away,’ he said.
‘There was no incident – nothing at all, he was really good there was nothing vicious thing about him.’
Police phoned to reportedly tell Connor of how calm and good the ‘big’ and ‘beautiful’ dog had been in what he claims was an assessment carried out by the force.
The owner also said he was told by Lancashire Police that the XL Bully had ‘passed’ the assessment, whilst he patiently waited weeks for his pet to return.
Following a fortnight of no communication, he contacted the force and was then called to a meeting with a sergeant where he was informed of his dog’s heartbreaking fate.
‘I was really devastated to be honest because I was waiting for him to come home I was waiting for messages, emails the lot saying “you can come and see Bruno now”.’
He added: ‘He was a big dog, he was a beautiful dog. He was good with kids.’
‘I am feeling upset. I don’t know how they can get it wrong to be honest. It’s just blagging my head at the moment – I don’t know what’s going on.
Connor says he is working with his local MP Lizzi Collinge to ‘take this further’ as he manoeuvre the fallout of his pet’s death.
It comes as the Morecambe and Lunesdale MP told the BBC that she is demanding answers over the incident.
‘This should be a ‘never event’ and I have taken this issue up directly with the police,’ she said.
She added: ‘I was shocked to see that a much-loved pet dog, Bruno, was wrongly euthanised whilst in police care.
‘Processes should have been in place to ensure this never happened.
‘There is a legal process when dogs are under police care and it appears this hasn’t been followed.
‘I will continue to support the family and I appeal to the police to disclose how they are changing their practices so that this is something that can never happen again.’
Lancashire Police has since apologised after putting down a family’s pet XL bully dog by mistake.
The police force said it has given the family an ‘unreserved apology’ for euthanising the seized dog, named Bruno, while the owners were in the process of applying for an exemption to keep him.
In a statement, the force said Bruno was put down due to an ‘administration error’.
‘In August we seized an XL bully dog from an address in Morecambe as part of our powers under the Dangerous Dogs Act as XL Bully dogs are a banned breed,’ the statement said.
‘A file was being prepared for consideration of the owner being prosecuted for the relevant offences.
‘However, unfortunately, due to an administration error the dog was subsequently euthanised before the court hearing.’
The force added that it has introduced a process ‘to ensure the same mistake cannot be made again’.
has approached Lancashire Police regarding the owner’s fresh comments.
The XL bully is the fifth dog breed to be banned in the UK, following a spate of attacks on people last year.
Other banned breeds include the pit bull terrier, Japanese rosa, fila brasiliero and dogo argentino.
But attacks have continued despite the ban as just two days after it came into effect, Esther Martin, 68, was killed by XL bullies inside a property in Jaywick, Essex. Her daughter claimed the dogs were unregistered.
The XL bully ban, which was criticised heavily by lovers of the breed, makes it a criminal offence to own, breed or sell the animals without permission, and those who have the exemption need to neuter their dogs and have third-party liability insurance.
Doug Smith member of Bully Watch, said: ‘We will likely be seeing more of these attacks. They won’t go away.’
‘It is a really tricky and messy situation for police to respond to. They can’t go door to door to assess the owners and assess the dogs.
‘The ban hasn’t had an impact on the ownership of these dogs and they are being rehomed to unsuitable homes illegally.
‘People are rehoming these dogs to other irresponsible owners. It is a case of idiots giving their dogs to other idiots. These people think they are responsible owners when they aren’t.
‘It is quite unprecedented. They have put this ban in place and people are still wanting to take these dogs into these homes.’