The XL Bully was defined and then added to the list of dangerous dogs under the dangerous dogs act on 31st December 2023 becoming the latest breed of dog that it is illegal to own in the UK without an exemption certificate and that it is illegal to breed, buy or rehome following a spate of injuries and fatalities that regularly occurred in the media in 2023. 

At around that time, XL Bully owner Sophie Coulthard became the lead campaigner for campaign group ‘Don’t Ban Me Licence Me’ who raised over £200,000 in a bid to take the government to court via judicial review and over turn the decision. 

Now in 2025 Hannah and Sophie catch up about;

• The whirlwind of a year from 2023-2024 that led to the campaign group being formed and the future work of DBLM 
• They talk about what life is like for owners of XL Bully dogs in the UK then and now. 
• They talk about some of the contributing factors that can lead to dog aggression and fatalities  
• And the future of breed specific legislation in the UK  
   
  
  

Stay up to date with the work of Don’t Ban Me Licence Me via their website 

 https://www.licenceme.org.uk/

And Sophie’s work with Axio Grow 

https://www.axiogrow.com/

More about your host:

Hannah is a qualified dog behaviour specialist in the UK with a degree in Animal Behaviour and a specialism in dog body language and pet dog behaviour. She's trained over 10,000 pet dogs in the last 10 years and written an illustrated guide to dog behaviour called ‘Whats my dog thinking: Understand your dog to give them a happy life’.  She featured as one of 3 experts on the prime time Channel 4 television series 'Puppy School' and currently teaches body language and handling courses to vets, groomers and pet shops to reduce bite incidents and increase the handling and observation skills of these awesome, but often overlooked, fields of pet care. She currently works as a behavioural expert for Agria Pet Insurance and leads the campaign for responsible dog ownership with the All Party Parliamentary Dog Advisory Welfare Group in Westminster. 

Big thanks to our season 2 sponsor Amplified Behaviour

www.amplifiedbehaviour.com

And you can train along with Hannah as a pet owner or a pet professional at www.amplifiedbehaviour.com       

@amplifiedbehaviour    @thehannahmolloy