A Cramlington man must pay £3,000+ kennel fees after police seized his XL Bully, as he lacked the required UK exemption.
Police visited Oliver Gibson’s house for a different investigation. Seeing his dog, they thought it looked like an XL Bully and seized it on September 6. The dog stayed in kennels since then.
As a result, Gibson must pay £3,148.80 for the kennels. At court, he admitted he owned a fighting dog, and Glenda Beck explained the dog was seized because police came to Gibson’s house and he lacked the exemption papers, therefore, the dog was illegal.
An officer testified the dog was friendly and showed no behavior problems, they reported. Paul Dunn, defending Gibson, stated he initially bought the dog for his girlfriend when XL Bully dogs were still legal, adding that he had dogs his entire life without any issues.
Dunn explained that Gibson gave his girlfriend £200 for the papers, but they broke up, and she spent the money on something else. Gibson also received a conditional discharge for 12 months.