A grandmother's XL Bully dog has become the first of its kind to be ordered to be put down after new regulations came into force banning the breed.
Josephine Fitzpatrick, 41, who lives in Waterloo, Merseyside, had rescued the dog a year ago when she found it wandering around the sand dunes at Formby, a National Trust area on the Sefton Coast.
She had taken in the unwell six-week-old puppy, which she named Bleu, nursing it back to health - but when the government introduced legislation targeting the breed, Fitzpatrick failed to declare the dog in time.
The XL Bully ban came into force on February 1 - but a little over two weeks later, police discovered the dog hidden in a locked room at the 41-year-old's home while attending the property for a separate matter.
Fitzpatrick's lawyer detailed how she thought the dog (stock pic) was dead when she found it on the dunes at Formby - but was charged under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 for owning it
PA/Geograph
Fitzpatrick was charged under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, while Bleu was taken by authorities and housed in kennels.
Tragically, when police arrived at her home, another of Fitzpatrick's dogs - Percie, a Lurcher - escaped, and had to be put down after being found four days later having been hit by a car.
The 41-year-old pleaded guilty to possessing a fighting dog under the Act earlier this week - a court subsequently ordered Bleu to be destroyed.
The court heard how Fitzpatrick could not afford to register the XL Bully for an ownership exemption in line with new rules, as she relies on monthly benefit payments of £300.
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Fitzpatrick lives in Waterloo, in Merseyside, around seven miles from where she found the XL Bully in Formby
Wikimedia Commons
Fitzpatrick's lawyer, Marcella Salter, said the grandmother had looked after the dog to good health and detailed how she thought the dog was dead when she found it on the dunes at Formby.
Salter said: "I appreciate that Blue is an XL Bully... She should have registered the dog with the vet and had him checked which is what the Government allows for.
"Unfortunately, finances did not prevail. She simply did not have the money to pay for the dog to become exempt, for the insurance, etc. - she knows that she has lost Bleu and she has also lost Percie.
"She says she is thoroughly ashamed that she had to come to court."
During Fitzpatrick's trial, the court heard how Bleu had acted aggressively while it was being kept in kennels - but Salter stressed the XL Bully's behaviour was a reaction to its unfamiliar surroundings.
Salter also said that while the 41-year-old did not oppose her dog's destruction order, she would not be able to pay the £614 kennel fees being levied by Merseyside Police.
Since February 1, it has been an offence to sell, abandon, give away, breed, or walk an unleashed and unmuzzled XL Bully dog in England and Wales, with Scotland imposing the same legislation on February 23.
Nearly 40,000 XL Bully dogs are thought to still be on Britain’s streets despite a ban on the breed being introduced - according to the banned breeds register, some 38,424 dogs were granted the £92 exemption to avoid being put down.
Estimates suggest there have been as many as 24 deaths linked to the breed since 2021.