Gail Robertson, a pet groomer who lives near Birchington-on-Sea, Kent, has created somewhere XL Bullies “can just be a dog and have fun” as she’s unhappy about the ban
A dog owner furious with the Government's ban on XL Bullies has spent £10,000 on a haven for the breed – and won't charge a penny.
Gail Robertson, 47, just wants a safe space for XL Bullies, where they can play off the lead unmuzzled as she became "frustrated" with Rishi Sunak's recent ruling. She secured approval to turn a field into a place where the banned dogs – and these exclusively – can have fun.
The field in Birchington-on-Sea, Kent is surrounded by 6ft tall fencing and will be free to owners on the stipulation they book in advance and clean up after themselves and their pooches.
Gail has spent £10,000 of her own cash to create the space, which will open next month, but stresses the money is worth the happiness of XL Bully owners, such as herself.
"For many owners, there is not even somewhere they can walk their dogs without a muzzle off the lead. Even if they can find somewhere, they have to drive out and pay. It's costing them so much money just to walk them," Gail, a pet groomer, told Kent Online.
"Being someone who has owned large breeds myself, I was very frustrated at the ban. There are lots of fields you can hire privately, but most of them don't have the insurance for XL Bullies."
In her role as Paw Seasons Spa owner in Birchington-on-Sea, Gail already runs a daycare in various fields and has the correct insurance cover in place for XL Bullies. She can offer the service for free by running the dog-sitting in just one field for one day of the week.
She added: "It’s somewhere they can just be a dog and have fun. I didn't need to expand my fields and when I saw what was happening, I measured up and put the tall fencing in. Why should you have to pay to walk your dog?"
The criteria for XL Bullies as set out by the government list certain characteristics and heights for a dog to come under the ban. They are described as “large dogs with a muscular body and blocky heads, suggesting great strength and power for their size”.
An adult male should be 20 inches or more at the withers to be classified as the outlawed breed and 19 inches for females. The criteria states: “A suspected XL Bully type does not need to fit the physical description perfectly. If your dog meets the minimum height measurements and a substantial number of these characteristics, it could be considered an XL Bully breed type."
But Gail, who has groomed pets for 18 years, feels Government literature around the ban is "badly worded and ineffective". Some desperate owners have become so confused – or worried – about the changes they've resorted to trying to give away their dogs for free online.
Mr Sunak said, last year, he believed XL Bullies were a "danger to our communities" as he outlined his intention to ban the breed. He tasked experts to define the breed of dogs behind a spate of attacks this week with a "view to then outlaw them" and ban the breed under the Dangerous Dogs Act.
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