Blundering police apologise after family's beloved XL Bully put down due to 'admin error'

Lancashire Police accidentally euthanised the seized dog, named Bruno, while his owners in Morecambe were in the process of applying for an exemption to keep the XL Bully

A police force has made an "unreserved apology" for putting down a family's pet XL Bully by mistake due to an "administration error".

The owners of the dog, named Bruno, were in the process of applying for an exemption to keep him when police seized the XL Bully and euthanised him.

A court hearing was supposed to take place but the "administration error" led to the death of Bruno. Lizzi Collinge, MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale, said she wants answers over the incident.

But Lancashire Police have said it has introduced a process "to ensure the same mistake cannot be made again". The force added: "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."

Speaking to the BBC, Ms Collinge, who represents Labour, the incident should be "a 'never event'". She continued: "This should be a 'never event' and I have taken this issue up directly with the police. 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."

The breed was banned at the start of the year after a series of incidents in which people were injured or killed. The RSPCA said reports of intentional harm, neglect and abandonment dramatically increased in the first eight months of 2024. It received 103 reports of intentional harm, an increase of 164% on the 39 during the same period in 2023.