From today (1 February 2024) it is a criminal offence to own an XL Bully dog in England and Wales unless the dog has a Certificate of Exemption. If an owner wants to keep their XL Bully dog after the ban, they must have applied for a Certificate of Exemption by 31 January 2024.
Customers must have provided Gentoo with a copy of this certificate.
Before Christmas, we wrote to all customers who are either known to, or believed to, own an XL bully to ensure they were aware of the new legislation and take the necessary steps to comply.
We are sending follow up letters to all customers who have either a) provided us with the Certificate of Exemption or b) they haven’t. All letters will make it clear the customer’s records have been updated to reflect this and that all colleagues will be aware of their dog before any visits to their property.
Where customers have not provided us with the required documentation, they will be reminded that owning an XL Bully dog without a Certificate of Exemption from 1 February 2024 onwards is a criminal offence and this will result in a breach of their tenancy agreement.
If the customer no longer has an XL Bully, they must confirm this to us immediately to enable our records to be updated.
Customers are also reminded that all colleagues must be shown a duty of care when visiting their property.
Customers are responsible for ensuring their pets do not impact in any way on our colleagues during their visit or are aggressive towards them. Customers must also ensure all unsecured pets are kept securely in a separate room whilst a visit is being undertaken. If this cannot be guaranteed, this could result in the visit being cancelled.
We have also updated the Tenant Handbook to reflect these changes. You can read the Tenant Handbook here: https://www.gentoogroup.com/media/khkevssc/tenant-handbook.pdf
