SCH will expect all tenants who own an XL Bully to follow the current Government guidelines.

From 31 December 2023 breeding, selling, advertising, rehoming, abandoning and allowing an American Bully XL dog to stray will be illegal. From this date, XL Bully’s must be kept on a lead and muzzled in public.  

From 1 February 2024, it will become illegal to own an American Bully XL dog if it is not registered on the Index of Exempted Dogs. Owners will have until 31 January 2024 to apply for this exemption.

SCH’s stance on this will be:

– To give our residents advice around what they need to do by directing you to the Government website for all up-to-date guidance.

– If we receive reports of a suspected un-registered XL Bully in one in our properties we will encourage the complainant to report this directly to the police.

– If a staff member sees what they think is an XL Bully they will report this to your assigned Tenancy Officer. We will then work with police and take each case on its merits around what we do in terms of any tenancy breach.  

– If a resident advises us they do not have the required certification, then they are committing a criminal offence and therefore also breaching their tenancy agreement. 

We advise all resident XL Bully owners who have successfully registered their dog for a Certificate of Exemption, to provide us with a copy. You can send this to us and we will upload it to our system for information and reference.