A JERSEY ‘XL Bully’-type dog owner says she fears she may be forced to put her pet down after the only insurer able to provide local coverage – which is now mandatory under the new dangerous dogs law – withdrew from the market.
Nina Morgan, the owner of 18-month-old American bulldog Frankie, had her dog assessed earlier this month. Frankie was classed as an XL bully type because of her size, Ms Morgan said.
Though she describes Frankie as “lovely” and “bred to be a family dog”, she said that she had known regulations were coming and had no problem with new requirements to keep her pet muzzled and on a leash.
Ms Morgan followed these measures anyway, she said, out of concern for the people around her and to stop the dog from eating items like screws and toxic plants.
But the law also compels XL Bully owners to have third-party insurance for their dogs – which previously was only offered by one provider in the UK and Channel Islands, the Dogs Trust, via their Companion Club.
On Thursday, the Dogs Trust emailed those insured by the Companion Club to say it would be stopping its third-party liability insurance on 1 July.
The club had offered the cover when the UK government made third-party cover compulsory for dangerous dogs and no other provider existed, it explained, but added it is a charity and not an insurance company.
Thousands of dog owners joined the scheme, it said, doubling the number of members and increasing insurance claims and, as a result, costs to the Dogs Trust.
“As a charity, we cannot afford to offer this benefit and have had to make the very difficult decision to remove third-party public liability insurance from Companion Club from 1 July 2026,” it said, adding that members can still renew their insurance until 1 July.
Ms Morgan has been insuring Frankie through the Companion Club, and has been able to renew her membership – so her dog will be covered until February 2027.
But she fears she would have to put her dog down if she couldn’t find new insurers.
“It’s the only place where we can get third-party insurance for XLs,” she said. “It’s not a great situation to be in. We are set up to fail.”
Having also lost Frankie’s health insurance when she was assessed as an XL bully type, she said she the dog was in the middle of treatment for a skin condition and an extra £600 to £700 was needed to have the dog neutered.
“To be honest, I’m seriously considering, if I don’t hear any proper noises from our government before the election, I’m going to consider putting my dog down.
“I can’t afford that without knowing that I’m going to be able to keep my dog.”
She said XL Bullies are “very playful, extremely friendly towards pretty much everybody and if they’re not friendly, then they are aloof”.
St Brelade Constable Mike Jackson, who chairs the Constables’ Committee which was responsible for introducing the law, previously said they had defined “dangerous” dogs based on the harm they might cause if they were to bite someone, rather than their personality.
Mr Jackson commented that the States Vet was “in discussion” with the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
UK pets, he said, were facing the same issue, and both the Environment Department and DEFRA were “trying to decide on the best way forward”.
“They are investigating whether other companies are willing to take the risk,” he said, adding that if he was an insurance provider, he would be reluctant to start offering the service.
