England & Wales banned dog types (Dangerous Dogs Act 1991; Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, XL Bully)

gb_banned_dog_types

England & Wales banned dog types (Dangerous Dogs Act 1991; Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, XL Bully)

Verbatim C1 topic drawn from a first-hand UK Government (GOV.UK / DEFRA) source. Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0; every claim below is a whitespace-normalised substring of the landed source file. No paraphrase.

Claims (verified C1 substrings of source_file)

In the UK, it’s against the law to own certain types of dog.
These are the:
Pit Bull Terrier
Japanese Tosa
Dogo Argentino
Fila Brasileiro
XL Bully
It’s against the law to:
sell a banned dog
abandon a banned dog
give away a banned dog
breed from a banned dog
Whether your dog is a banned type depends on what it looks like, rather than its breed or name.
if your dog matches many of the characteristics of a Pit Bull Terrier, it may be a banned type.
If you have a banned dog, the police or local council dog warden can take it away and keep it, even if:
it is not acting dangerously
there has not been a complaint
a public place, the police do not need a warrant
a private place, the police must get a warrant
You cannot own an XL Bully dog unless your dog has a valid Certificate of Exemption.
From 1 November 2026, you must not leave a child under 12 in close contact with a banned dog in a private place (for example a home or garden), without adult supervision.

Sources

Controlling your dog in public: Banned dogs (GOV.UK)

Source document: Controlling your dog in public: Banned dogs (GOV.UK)

UK Government (GOV.UK / DEFRA)retrieved 2026-08-13

Verification file: pdf-raw/gov-uk-petwelfare/control_dog_banned.html

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