A woman has been arrested after a dog was killed by a suspected XL Bully whilst on a walk.
It has been reported that a small white schnauzer and poodle mixed-breed was attacked by another dog that was not on a lead in a field between St Peters Church and Hanwell Fields in Banbury, Oxfordshire on Wednesday.
The seven-year-old dog died at the scene and the offenders, a man and a woman, recalled their grey and silver coloured dogs – both suspected to be XL bullies – before leaving the scene.
The authorities had initially appealed for witnesses and a woman in her 30s was arrested on Friday on suspicion of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control.
Two dogs have been seized by the police and the woman has been bailed pending further enquiries.
The seven-year-old dog died at the scene and the offenders, a man and a woman, recalled their grey and silver coloured dogs – both suspected to be XL bullies – before leaving the scene (stock)
A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said: ‘A woman from Banbury was arrested on suspicion of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control. Two dogs have also been seized.
‘It is in connection with an incident on Wednesday 26 March at St Peters Church and Hanwell Fields, Banbury, in which a dog, was attacked by another dog, and sadly died.
‘The woman has been bailed and our enquiries are ongoing.’
It comes after last month a 19-year-old girl died after she was attacked by what was believed to be an XL Bully-type dog in the Hartcliffe area of south Bristol.
Two days earlier, armed police had to fire 19 shots to kill two XL Bully dogs after an 84-year-old man was left fighting for his life when he was dragged into a garden and viciously attacked in Warrington.
A crackdown on restricting the breeding and sale of XL Bullies was brought in on December 31, 2023, following a spate of horrific attacks on the public.
The ban, which came fully into affect in February last year, made it a criminal offence to own or possess an XL Bully Dog in England and Wales without a valid Certificate of Exemption.
It is also an offence to sell or abandon an XL Bully Dog, or to let it stray. And it is 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 more than 6,000 recorded incidents of dog bites requiring hospital treatment.
