XL Bully dog owner blasts police for ‘murdering’ his pet after vicious attack
An XL Bully owner has called on the police to stop killing dogs after his own pet was shot by officers.
Sammy Wilkinson had been criticised after it emerged that he was ferrying XL Bullies to Scotland to defy the English ban on the breed.
The 29-year-old, from Tipton in the West Midlands, is now campaigning for “Kilo’s Law” saying the animal was “murdered”.
He said he will fight to see tasers and sedative darts used on out of control animals instead of firearms. Wilkinson had previously taken dogs to Scotland to avoid the ban south of the border.
He said: “Myself and thousands of others have tried to save as many of these dogs as possible. Last month they made the big mistake of making it personal and murdering one of my dogs. Under Kilo’s Law we hope to bring about an end to this barbarity.
“Under Kilo’s Law, firearms officers are to be prohibited from attending incidents of alleged dangerously out of control dogs.
“Instead a full canine unit under the supervision of a vet will be deployed with the appropriate equipment which would consist of catchpoles, sedative based dart guns and tasers.
“We are tired of the police having free roam to slaughter innocent dogs.”
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Kilo was gunned down in the Calderwood area of East Kilbride, in South Lanarkshire.
Scottish Conservatives yesterday said police “did what they had to do” and “must be trusted” to protect the public amid concerns over the number of XL Bullies recently rehomed in Scotland.
Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, said police must be able to act fast to protect the public. He said: “The horrific case in East Kilbride exposed the public safety issues which gave rise from the SNPs dithering over a sensible UK-wide ban on XL bullies.
“As a dog owner, I understand the need to protect animal welfare. No cop wants to pull a gun on anything or anyone but faced with potentially life or death situations the police did what they had to do.
Greene added: “Whilst there may be some merit in using specialist sedative guns, our police must be trusted to act appropriately when called out to such incidents in whichever way they see fit to protect the public.”
Police Scotland has referred the East Kilbride incident to PIRC (Police Investigations & Review Commissioner).