UK Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 — banned dog types (England & Wales)
Source: legislation.gov.uk (first-hand official text), extracted 2026-07-22 via Tavily. All clauses below are quoted verbatim from the legislation. Scope: England & Wales. Devolved administrations (Scotland, Northern Ireland) operate separate, related regimes and are out of scope here.
Under section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, it is unlawful to breed, sell, exchange, gift, or allow a banned-type dog in a public place unmuzzled/unleashed. The banned "types" are defined across the 1991 Act and two Designated Types Orders:
Banned dog types (verbatim)
> (a)any dog of the type known as the pit bull terrier; > (b)any dog of the type known as the Japanese tosa; and > (c)any dog of any type designated for the purposes of this section by an order of the Secretary of State, being a type appearing to him to be bred for fighting or to have the characteristics of a type bred for that purpose. > (a)any dog of the type known as the Dogo Argentino; and > (b)any dog of the type known as the Fila Braziliero. > 2. The type of dog known as the XL Bully is designated for the purposes of section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, being a type appearing to the Secretary of State to be bred for fighting or to have the characteristics of a type bred for that purpose.
Key points
- Pit Bull Terrier and Japanese Tosa are named directly in DDA 1991 s.1(1)(a)–(b).
- Dogo Argentino and Fila Braziliero are designated by The Dangerous Dogs (Designated Types) Order 1991 (SI 1991/1743), reg. 2 — note the statute spells it "Fila Braziliero".
- XL Bully is designated by The Dangerous Dogs (Designated Types) (England and Wales) Order 2023 (SI 2023/1164), art. 2, in force at 31.12.2023.
- Section 1(1)(c) provides the mechanism: further types may be designated by Order of the Secretary of State.
Source: pdf-raw/banned-dog-breeds/uk_dda_banned_types_2026-07-22.txt (legislation.gov.uk, extracted 2026-07-22 via Tavily).