XL Bully dog owners warned they have just one month to comply with new rules or pet will be seized

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: "Anyone found in possession of these dangerous dogs and not meeting the strict rules could have their dog seized and faces prosecution and a criminal record.

"If owners do not submit the Confirmation of Neutering form to Defra by 26 July, the dog will no longer be exempt."

The UK's Chief Veterinary Officer, Christine Middlemiss, said: "The legal deadline for XL Bullies to be neutered is now only one month away.

"Do not risk leaving it to the last minute, owners should book in to get their dog neutered as soon as possible.

"If evidence is not provided that the dog has been neutered by the relevant deadline, owners will be breaching the legal requirements to keep an XL Bully dog and it could be seized by the police."

The continuation of the crackdown comes amid reports that XL Bully and XL Bully-type dog attacks continue to blight households across the country.

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Just this morning, GB News reported on the shocking story of a five-year-old boy having been left with "half his scalp ripped off" after a horrific attack by an XL Bully-type dog.

A witness had detailed how "it took three guys to get the dog off him... If those three guys were not there, I don't think the [child] would still be here."

And just days prior, it emerged that the neighbour of a woman who was mauled to death by her two XL Bully dogs at her East London home had warned her children about the dangerous breed and told them not to go near them.

The dogs' owner, a woman in her 50s, had been viciously attacked by the hounds - and though police, paramedics and the air ambulance were dispatched, she was pronounced dead at the scene.

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.

But Dr Simon Harding, author of "Unleashed: The Phenomena of Status Dogs and Weapon Dogs", doesn't believe the latest clamp-down will curtail attacks.

Dr Harding told the Mirror: "I think we're going to keep seeing it, but I don't think we're really going to find out accurately what the outcome is of the laws because the data on all of this is really poor.

"Some people with crossbreed XL bullies haven't registered their dogs because they don't understand the rules, so people get these things wrong.

"There are plenty of dogs out there that haven't been exempted and that's a worry. So I don't think we've seen the last of these kind of events."