Police apologise for putting down family's XL Bully dog by mistake

A police force has issued an 'unreserved apology' to a family after their pet XL Bully dog was put down by mistake.

Lancashire Police said the dog, named Bruno, was put down due to an "administration error". The force euthanised the seized dog while the owners were in the process of applying for an exemption to keep him.

The force said in a statement: “In August we seized an XL bully dog from an address in Morecambe as part of our powers under the Dangerous Dogs Act as XL Bully dogs are a banned breed.

“A file was being prepared for consideration of the owner being prosecuted for the relevant offences. However, unfortunately, due to an administration error the dog was subsequently euthanised before the court hearing.”

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The force added that it has introduced a process “to ensure the same mistake cannot be made again”.

Lizzi Collinge, MP Morecambe and Lunesdale, told the BBC that she is demanding answers over the incident. She said what happened should be "a never event" and confirmed she has taken the issue up with the police.

She said: “I was shocked to see that a much-loved pet dog, Bruno, was wrongly euthanised whilst in police care. Processes should have been in place to ensure this never happened. There is a legal process when dogs are under police care and it appears this hasn’t been followed.

“I will continue to support the family and I appeal to the police to disclose how they are changing their practices so that this is something that can never happen again.”