OUT OF CONTROL

>> Attacks surge since 'pandemic pup' boom >> Victims and charities plead for tougher laws

- ADAM and PAUL ASPINALL GALLAGHER

DOG attacks are soaring despite the ban on feared XL Bullys.

Police stats show around 87 people were savaged every day across England and Wales last year.

The latest figures also mean that incidents have risen in every county since the pandemic when dog ownership boomed.

The largest increase was recorded by Cleveland Police - up 163%.

Four other forces had attacks double last year since 2019: Lancashire, Warwickshire, Lincolnshire and Devon & Cornwall.

Last night a woman whose mother was killed by an XL Bully in South Wales in 2022 said breeders had simply moved to other fighting breeds since they were outlawed.

Gail Jones, 65, said: "These things are killing machines in the wrong hands and the breeders should be sent straight to jail.

"That would deter a lot of people from thinking they could make a fast buck by going into this type of illegal breeding.

"Until that happens I feel my mother died in vain."

Gail has campaigned for tougher sentences for offending dog owners and breeders since her mum Shirley, 83, died after being attacked in her living room in Caerphilly, Gwent.

The dog, a large black cross between an XL Bully and cane corso, was being looked after by a relative as a favour for a friend. No one was charged.

Shirley, a retired nurse, lived just half a mile away from a schoolboy who was killed by an XL Bully in the town almost exactly a year before.

Jack Lis, 10, was bitten in the head and neck shortly after finishing school for the day. Police shot the animal in November 2021.

Brandon Hayden and Amy Salter were jailed after admitting being in charge of the out-of-control dog.