848 out-of-control dogs complaints were made to the South Wales force in 2024 – up from 107 a decade earlier
ETHAN and Jasmine Ironborne were walking their dog Kuma in Roath Park when a large black and white dog attacked him.
“The fight lasted for about seven seconds, I managed to get between them and get this white and black dog off him and the owner managed to drag his dog away by its collar before it could do anymore damage, but it kept trying to go for him before then,” said Mr Ironborne.
“There was a puncture wound on the back of his head from a canine tooth so I went to run after the owner, and he had literally run off with his dog so I couldn’t even get details.”
Mr and Mrs Ironborne were stuck with a £115 vet bill but Kuma, a 12-year-old Husky Akita cross, was relatively fine. Mrs Ironborne reported the attack to the police in June 2024 but nothing came of it.
A Freedom of Information Act request to South Wales Police has revealed the number of reports in the force area of dogs behaving dangerously jumped from just 10 in 2007 to 848 in 2024.
What does the data show?
From 2022 to 2023 the number of South Wales cases jumped from 614 to 815 which coincided with the ban on XL Bullies.
Since the ban, XL Bullies have appeared in UK news articles more often.
On October 8, 2024, WalesOnline reported that a 12-year-old girl had been attacked by a dog described as similar to an XL Bully in Brynmawr.
Justin Allison, the owner of the dog in that attack, was jailed for a total of three years for owning a banned breed of dog, being in charge of a dog that was dangerously out of control and possessing a knife.
Another FOI request to South Wales Police revealed the total number of reported actual attacks by dogs in England and South Wales since February 2020.
Since that date there have been 2,878 cases of dog attacks with 690 of those being related to XL Bullies – nearly a quarter of all attacks, according to South Wales Police.
What is being done?
Between 2019 and 2024 South Wales Police have seized a total of 865 dogs for being dangerous or out of control, an FOI request revealed.
The most common breeds seized are included in the below pie chart and include XL Bullies, Staffies and Pitbull Terriers.
But also included are some dogs you may not expect including one Golden Retriever, two Pugs and a Dachshund.
South Wales Police were asked why more dangerous dogs were being reported but have not yet responded.
To report an incident of a dangerous or out of control dog, you can:
- Report a nuisance or disturbance by a banned dog, which could include a dog bite.
- Call 101 if a dog seems to be out of control.
- Call 999 if a crime is happening or someone is in danger.
- Use textphone service 18000 or text 999 if you’ve pre-registered with the emergency SMS service if you have a hearing or speech impairment.
