Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the deadline for neutering dogs whose owners wish to withdraw a certificate of exemption.

For a Certificate of Exemption to remain valid, owners must arrange to have their XL Bully dog neutered and to provide evidence of this to Defra by set deadlines. These deadlines are 30 June 2024 if the dog was 12 months or older on 31 January 2024, 31 December 2024 if the dog was at least 7 months old, but less than 12 months old on 31 January 2024, and 30 June 2025 if the dog was younger than 7 months on 31 January 2024.

Owners who no longer think that their dog is an XL Bully will be able to ask Defra to withdraw their certificate of exemption. Defra will provide more information about how to do this soon.