ARMED police gunned down an XL Bully last night after it went on a rampage and savaged four people.
Met cops swooped on the scene in South West London shortly after 10pm.
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Shocking footage captured bystanders frantically trying to fight the bully off in Battersea, South West London on Monday night
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Emergency service vehicles race to the scene as members of the public watch on in horror
It followed reports an XL Bully “was dangerously out of control and attacking people” in Battersea.
Four men were rushed to hospital with non-life threatening injuries before cops shot the beast dead.
Shocking video shows bystanders frantically trying to fight off the grey-coloured hell hound on York Road.
They use a motorbike helmet and batons as they fail to prise the beast off what appears to be a person lying under a coat.
One bystander then smashes a bottle over the beast’s back as emergency service vehicles race to the scene.
The Met said a man, 22, and woman, 21, were arrested on suspicion of being the owner/person in charge of a dog dangerously out of control.
Investigators are examining the dog to confirm its breed.
Local MP Marsha de Cordova said she was “deeply concerned” to hear the news of the attack.
A Met spokesman said: “Police were called to reports of a dog – described as an XL Bully – that was dangerously out of control and attacking people in the vicinity of Home Road, SW11.
“Due to the threat posed to the public by the dog, armed officers attended.
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“After assessing the situation, officers took the difficult decision to destroy the dog and it was shot.
“Four men – all members of the public – were taken to hospital for treatment to injuries sustained during the dog attack.
Dangerous Dogs Act explained
After eleven horrific attacks in 1991, Home Secretary Kenneth Baker promised “to rid the country of the menace of these fighting dogs” by introducing the Dangerous Dogs Act.
The law is often considered controversial as it focuses on a dog’s breed or looks instead of an individual dog’s behaviour, and fails to stem the rise of dog attacks.
According to the RSPCA, over a third of the people killed by dogs since the act was brought in were attacked by legal breeds.
“None of their injuries are life-threatening.”
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called at 10:04 yesterday evening (March 18) to reports of a dog attack on York Road, SW11.
“We dispatched resources to the scene including ambulance crews and a clinical manager.
“We treated four patients at the scene before bringing them to two separate hospitals. One patient also made their own way to hospital prior to our arrival.”
XL Bullies were outlawed in England and Wales on February 1.
Fatal XL Bully attacks
Ian “Scouse” Langley, 54, was protecting his puppy when the animal pounced on him outside a home in Sunderland in October 2023.
Ian Price, 52, was viciously savaged in September 2023 by the beasts as he tried to protect his elderly mum from them after they escaped.
Jonathan Hogg, 37, was killed in May 2023 entered the dog’s pen when it went for him, leaving bite wounds on his arm, leg and head.
Natasha Johnston, 28, was mauled to death while walking a pack of dogs in January 2023 was believed to have been killed by her own pet – an American Bully XL.
Shirley Patrick, 83, died 17 days after being mauled in a “hellish”, violent dog attack in December 2022.
Ian Symes, 34, who was known to friends as “Wiggy”, died at a recreation ground in Fareham, Hampshire, after the savage attack in August 2022.
Joanne Robinson, 43, was fatally mauled by pet Rocco at her home in Rotherham, South Yorkshire in July 2022.
Keven Jones, 62, went into cardiac arrest after being bitten by Cookie-Doe at Chanel Fong’s home in Wrexham, North Wales in May 2022.
Bella-Rae Birch, one, was mauled to death in March 2022 at her home by the American Bully XL.
Jack Lis, 10, was killed by a hulking XL Bully dog named Beast in November 2021 as he played at friend’s home in Caerphilly.
It came after they were believed to be behind 20 per cent of dog attacks in 2023.
Owning an XL Bully dog without a certificate of exemption is now a criminal offence.
It is illegal to breed, sell, advertise, exchange, gift, re-home, abandon or allow XL Bully-type dogs to stray in England and Wales.
Esther Martin, 68, was the latest person to be fatally attacked by the breed – days after the ban came into force.
She was killed by two XL Bullys owned by her son-in-law Ashley Warren, 39, who begged for the breed to be banned.
Warren, of Jaywick, Essex, said: “If my dogs did that to her, when I had never seen anything but love from them, then that breed just has a killer switch.
“I honestly thought the ban was a stupid government plan to wipe out a breed which I had never seen anything but softness and love from.
“Now I think they need to be wiped out.”
Anyone with information can call police on 101 or contact the force via X @MetCC quoting the reference CAD7620/19Mar.
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