A BRADFORD district dad has spoken of his devastation after the Government announced plans to ban the American Bully XL dog breed by the end of 2023.

Chris Emmott, who lives in Shipley, said his dog Bruno’s “worst trait” is that “he wants to cuddle and lick everyone”. 

The ban comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described the breed as a “danger to our communities”.

In recent years, the American Bully XL dog breed has been linked to a number of attacks on humans and dogs.

In a video statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Sunak said: "It is not currently a breed defined in law, so this vital first step must happen fast.

"We will then ban the breed under the Dangerous Dogs Act and new laws will be in place by the end of the year.”

But for Chris, the personality of an American Bully XL depends on how it is raised.

Bruno joined the family when he was around 10 weeks old.

He is now 10 months old. 

“I raise mine like one of my kids as much as I can,” Chris said.

“I have two little girls so he is my little boy, I have met so many of these dogs and never come across a horrible one ever.”

He added: “The worst trait my dog has is he wants to cuddle and lick everyone. I have never met a softer dog in my life, every time we go for a walk it's all the smaller dogs that bark like crazy at him and he doesn't even get aggressive at all.

“I’m so confused by this, now I have to what feels like muzzle and neuter one of my kids. I just can't comprehend it at all, a petition that has over half a million signatures and it's totally overlooked based on isolated incidents, albeit very distressing, when will people realise it's not the dog’s fault?

“My youngest daughter is heartbroken.

“I’m proud to own a dog of such kind, gentle nature. I'm sure you will see that 95 per cent of this breed are gentle giants, not aggressive horrible dogs they're made out to be.”

Chris wants the Government to issue further clarification about the ban.

He also believes the Government should front the costs of castration. 

Chris said it's "not fair to expect us to pay for that after paying almost £3,000 for him not even a year ago".