A dog owner who claimed he did not realise his XL Bully dogs were banned 'fighting dogs' has been heavily fined.

Mark Yule, 34, of Dogridge, Purton, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a fighting dog at Swindon Magistrates Court on Tuesday, July 30 and he was sentenced on Monday, November 4.

Ms Winters, prosecuting, said Yule did not have the Certificate of Exemption required under the new law to own an XL Bully, meaning his dogs Zeus and Lexi were owned illegally.

They were also not covered by insurance and one of the dogs, Lexi, was not neutered, while Zeus had a faulty microchip.

Wiltshire Police seized the dogs in April despite there being no concerns about them being dangerous, but they have been kept in kennels for 207 days, racking up a bill of £13,456, which falls on the police force and the taxpayer.

In an impact statement read to the court, a Wiltshire Police officer described how outlawing XL Bullies had had a “significant demand” on their resources.

He said they had spent £200,000 so far this year on seizing the dogs and prosecuting owners, up from £30,000 last year.

In mitigation, Ms Dunne, defending, argued that Yule was very remorseful and had told police “I’ll do anything I can to put the situation right.”

She added that he did not appreciate that Zeus and Lexi were XL Bullies and therefore would be impacted by the strict rules under the new law.

Yule, a former carpenter, had spent £2,500 on the dogs and during the previous hearing in July, both the prosecution and defence asked for the case to be adjourned so that the police could compile a pre-sentence report detailing the behaviour and temperament of Lexi and Zeus.

On Monday, the Magistrate ordered the 34-year-old to get Lexi neutered and Zeus fitted with a new microchip before they could be returned.

The Magistrate told Yule: “I don’t fully accept you didn’t think they were fighting dogs.

“You could have looked it up easily and you absolutely should have done.”

She told Yule that the rules are “there for a reason” following previous tragedies involving the dog breed, stating “you do have to comply with it.”

She warned him: “We are where we are, it’s up to you if you want to keep them, but if you are you’re going to have to have all the exemptions in place.

“[If you don't follow the rules] Unfortunately, the dogs will die, it’s pretty serious and I’m assuming you love those dogs and don’t want them to die.”

He was ordered to pay £1,500 for kennel costs, fined £100 and ordered to pay a surcharge of £40 - totalling £1,640.

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