XL Bully owners have 2 weeks to make sure pets are legal as they face 14 years in jail for selling dangerous dogs

XL BULLY owners have just two weeks to ensure their dogs are legal – or face having them seized.

From December 31 the hounds must be microchipped, muzzled and kept on a lead in public and it will be illegal to breed, sell or abandon them.

Advertising, gifting and exchanging the and they must be kept in a secure place to prevent escape, the Government says.

Owners have been reminded that they can ask a vet to euthanize their pets and claim £200 compensation.

This has to be done at a registered vet by January 31, 2024, and to get compensation you must apply by March 15.

If you want to keep your Bully after the ban, you must apply for a Certificate of Exemption which will cost £92.40.

Owners have until January 31, 2024, to do this.

XL Bullies must also be neutered under the new rules.

If your dog is older than one on January 31, 2024, it must be neutered by June 30, 2024.

If your dog is younger than one on January 31, 2024, it needs to be snipped by December 31, 2024.

Chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss added: “From 1 February 2024, it will also be a criminal offence to be in possession of an XL bully in England and Wales unless you have applied for an exemption.”

The ban was brought in after the breed was found to be behind a number of dog attacks that killed Brits.

Until 2021 there were about three deaths a year, but 2024 has seen 23.

American XL Bullys are said to have originated in the US in the late 1980s and are mixed-breed, comprising the American pit bull terrier and the American Staffordshire terrier.

A Sun on Sunday probe in early 2023 found canines being offered for as much as £2,500 online.

People with dangerously out-of-control dogs can be jailed for 14 years and banned from owning animals, and their pets can be put down.