An example of an XL Bully – the one pictured was not involved in the attack on the OAP (Image: Getty Images)
Armed police officers were forced to “destroy” two suspected XL Bully devil dogs – after they viciously mauled a frail 84 year-old man.
Gun-wielding cops swooped on the residential street in Warrington, in Cheshire, after the pensioner was seriously injured in the reported ‘dog attack’.
Cheshire Police said the elderly man was rushed to Aintree Hospital accident and emergency department from the scene in Bardsley Avenue, in Dallam, Warrington, at around 6.40pm on Monday.
Officers confirmed two large powerful dogs, believed to be banned XL bullies, were “destroyed” at the scene, with a third dog seized. It is not yet known if the victim was their owner.
A Cheshire Police spokesman said: “At around 6.40pm on February 24th police were called to reports of a dog attack at an address on Bardsley Avenue, Warrington.
“Officers, supported by the firearms unit, attended the scene, and on arrival, they found that an 84-year-old man had sustained serious injuries.
“He has since been taken to Aintree Hospital. Two dogs, believed to be XL bully dogs, were destroyed by officers at the scene, and a third small dog was also seized.
“Enquiries to establish the full circumstance surrounding the incident are ongoing, and officers remain in attendance at the scene.”
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Locals have taken to Facebook and social media expressing their hopes the man recovers quickly.
Kirsty Fenton said: “Thoughts are with the man involved, hoping he makes a full recovery.”
While resident Claire Heaton added: “Thoughts are with the poor man hope the man is ok.”
An XL bully are not a specific breed but instead the largest kind of American bully dog, described in Government guidance as having “a muscular body and blocky head, suggesting great strength and power for their size”.
It is a year since strict rules about owning XL bully dogs were first introduced in the UK following a number of high-profile fatal attacks involving the dogs.
There are no official figures for the number of XL bullies in the UK, but dogs are considered XLs if they meet the minimum height and a substantial number of other characteristics.
Aintree University Hospital, Liverpool, where OAP was taken (Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
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Male XL dogs stand from 20in (51cm) high at the shoulder, with female XLs only slightly smaller.
NHS consultant Richard Baker said the dogs’ powerful jaws inflict more damaging wounds than those of other breeds, resulting in broken bones, shredded skin and damaged nerves.
“It’s a crushing or a tearing injury,” he said. “Once they grip, they don’t let go.”
There were 10,924 hospital admissions for dog bites in England in 2023-24, up from 9,424 in 2022-23.
When the previous government announced the XL bully ban for England and Wales in late 2023, it said the breed had been “disproportionately involved” in deaths recorded since 2021.