Shona Robison refuses to confirm XL Bully dogs will be banned in Scotland

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The Scottish Government has refused to commit to joining Westminster in banning XL Bully dogs.Deputy First Minister Shona Robison faced a call to ban the breed during First Minister's Questions on Thursday.The UK Government announced last month that it will become illegal in England and Wales to own an XL Bully dog which is not registered from February.By the end of this year it will be illegal to breed, sell, advertise, exchange, gift, rehome, abandon or allow XL Bully dogs to stray.They will also need to be kept on a lead and muzzled in public.The Scottish Government has so far rejected calls to apply the ban north of the border, calling it "premature".Robison said the Scottish Government is "carefully considering the evidence" about whether it should ban the dogs.She also took aim at the UK Government, saying its approach was "not the most helpful way to proceed".Tory MSP Russell Findlay asked during FMQs: "The UK Government is banning XL Bully dogs after a spate of horrific attacks, some of them fatal."But the SNP has refused to sign up to this plan.

It looks like they are willing to risk public safety just to diverge from the rest of the UK."So will the Deputy First Minister U-turn and ban XL Bully's before more people get hurt."Robison replied: "That is a complete misrepresentation of the facts by Russell Findlay.

Let me say what is actually happening."We are carefully considering the evidence on XL Bully dogs and whether similar changes to ban this breed should be applied in Scotland."Public safety is paramount in our deliberations.

Scotland already has a dog control notice regime which is unique in the UK and focused on preventing dog attacks from happening in the first place."But we remain concerned about the