A dog owner is claiming three of her dogs have been seized by authorities after someone falsely reported them to be the banned XL Bully breed in a move she slammed as ‘malicious’
A devastated dog owner says she is still in disbelief after police seized three of her pets following what she claims were “malicious” reports branding them as banned XL Bullies.
Nottinghamshire resident Tia Bradley, 25, was at work when she received a frantic call from her partner warning that officers were on their way to confiscate three of the couple’s four dogs. When she rushed home to her property in Hucknall, Ms Bradley says she was met by a heavy police presence that left her feeling terrified.
She claims her house was surrounded by 12 officers who arrived in several vehicles, and told her the animals were “potential XL Bullies”. In what she labelled an “intimidating” scene, she was then asked whether she wanted to sign them over to be destroyed.
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She recalled the distressing event, saying : “They told me I had three potential XL Bullies and then asked me if I wanted to disclaim them to have them destroyed. We’ve had no incidents with them. They’ve caused no fear and haven’t been out of control. They’ve been seized based on how they look after malicious reports.”
Since the incident in October last year, one of pups, Lyla, a four-year-old American Bulldog, was later returned home when officers concluded she was not an XL Bully. However, the two other canines remain confined and have now spent three months in police kennels despite Ms Bradley’s claims that neither of them are the banned XL Bully breed, reports Nottinghamshire Live.
According to the owner, Lexi is a two-year-old American Bulldog while Zeke is two-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier crossed with an Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog. However, police have assessed both dogs as American Pitbull Terriers, another breed banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, which makes it illegal to own, sell or breed them without a court exemption.
Still shaken by the incident, Ms Bradley recalled the moment her dogs were taken away, explaining how Zeke became distressed, saying: “Zeke’s quite nervous so he barked a bit [when he was seized] but I managed to distract him with a toy. The girls came out absolutely fine and Lexi was rubbing against the fence and one of the officers who was stroking her noted how small she is. Obviously she is small because she is not an XL Bully.”
Refusing to accept the police’s assessment and have her two dogs return home, Ms Bradley is now attempting to raise £1,600 to pay for private breed evaluations for them. A court hearing to determine the fate of the dogs is scheduled for February 6 at Nottingham Magistrates Court, where a defence expert will give evidence before a judge reaches a decision.
Ms Bradley said her contact with the dogs has been limited and filtered through solicitors, adding that “police haven’t been exactly helpful”. Ms Bradley also claims she was recently informed that Zeke had a tooth removed after it was damaged while being handled with a catchpole – equipment she says she had specifically asked officers not to use.
She said: “You hear horror stories about how dogs are treated in kennels so it’s hard when all you get told is that your dogs are OK. It’s even harder now after finding out they’re suffering due to poor handling. Zeke can be a bit anxious because of his background, where I suspect he was the subject of physical and emotional abuse. I asked the sergeant to not use a catchpole on Zeke because of how nervous he was. He assured me this wouldn’t happen.”
She also says Lexi has lost weight during her time in kennels and has developed stress-related allergies affecting her ears. If Ms Bradley accepts the police classification, she would be required to pay kennel costs of £35 per day per dog – which now totals more than £10,000 so far.
She said: “The whole situation has been overwhelming. The police have asked me on numerous occasions if I want to disclaim the dogs to have them put down. We were hoping to bring them home through the Interim Exemption Scheme which means that, if police deem the dogs aren’t a danger to the public, they can come home while waiting for the court date. It would reduce the kennel fees and stress. But they didn’t allow me as I didn’t agree with the breed they assessed my dogs as.”
Nottinghamshire Police has declined to comment while the case remains before the courts.
